The Bench

Shone like a meteor
Streaming to the wind
Inscribes your bench
It sits at the bend of the Bow River
And points to the gap
Where the wind drafts your ashes
Our place for all seasons

Shared with many strangers
Where the ice flows crackle
Dogs explore
Spokes flash by between
Sentinel mountains reach out
To gather and release clouds
Absorb and reflect
The sun and moon the mood

Snow clings to jagged ledges
Follows the crevasses
Nests in the trees
Jarred free to crash below
Below relentless currents run-off swift
Find new paths
As they travel in concert
Some pausing for a flash
A thousand shades of green hi-lighted

Fishermen cast
Luring the flow and eddy
For elusive searching denizens

Wild rose blooms
Entangling the buttress
Across the pebbled shore
Shows signs of elk and sometimes bear
And grown-up children partying

And the osprey
In regular migration
Share my watch