When We Help II

Moving that wood was a little more challenging this year.

The same goes for the brush clearing near the house,

which even for me is a hard-clear and long-sweat.

You are still at it with most of the work, as it is with you,

through near misses and health-defying chances.

It felt like we pushed the rusted hinges harder this year.

This place is beautiful and such a hammock-infused joy.

If not here forever, where do you want to be?

The answer might quicken the final projects.

You can enjoy the continued friendship of a younger, concerned neighbor.

Our proximity, our bond—both children of the land—we work in this valley,

clear-eyed. Another passing of the mantle.

When you leave this land, what you love lives on

through the landscapes we shaped and the promises I keep.