Flora trickled down snowy mountains
like an ice queen, virgin arms melting
while I extracted myself from a mudslide.

We came together in swirling eddies
she embraced all my imperfections
treated mundane flaws like proud battle scars.

Linking limbs, we jumped into Purdy Creek
cast a medieval spell over dashing white water
converted churning rapids to a reflective mirror.

Cattails shook long pointed seedheads
expressed Mayday difference as we floated past
their rhizomes deeply rooted in shallow swales.

Along the banks, budding trees bowed at us
acknowledged grandeur in the ordinary, stood
strait ‘n tall as Flora and I found solace amid rushes.