We go to the mountains
for healing.
          I do not say
          this to my children.

I tell them we are going to hike up to waterfalls
and down to streams.
          I tell them we will fish in clear pools and swift water
          among the trillium and salamanders.
I tell them we will whistle like birds.

I do not lie. I say it this way
because I will not always be here.
          Because they must be able
to find places of solace, to be familiar
with that green refuge on their own,
          to make them ready
for the time they tell their own child
“We are going to the mountains”

Later, not so much later,
          I will also tell them all
          “We are going to the beach”,

I take them to the oceans
to learn humility of place
beside the dolphins and laughing gulls
          in the place where the sun
flames in the sky over blowing sands,
and waves rush to meet us.
          To be their guardian
          as we meet something
          much bigger than ourselves,
where we balance together,
learning how to walk
on shifting sands,
          how to stand in the heat
          as the tides wash clean the air we breathe
          and the earth beneath our feet.