10/12
Sonnets From Other Lives: Abby

The morning is a gift. Abby accepts.
She points the mare up canyon towards the ridge.
The horse is skittish but Abby is adept
at calming her.  They pause beside  a bridge.
Two dippers are dancing in the stream.
A western tanager lights in a pine.
This is just how she would orchestrate her dreams
were she conductor of her thoughts at night.
The mare steps carefully across the creek
to where the trail begins a steady climb.
Jenny's coming home in two more weeks
from Afghanistan.  It crosses Abby's mind
that this perfect morning's perfect for
taking one worried mother's thoughts from war.