In Which the Poet's Son Heads to the Office

Our boy will be graduating from The School of Mines in a couple of weeks.  A couple of weeks after that he ships off to Houston, where he'll begin his career as an engineer.  It should be noted that Houston is a good deal further from home than Golden was.  

I suppose I have been in a state of denial about this fact.    

What is life but a series of adjustments...

Fare Thee Well

      for Samuel

Stay clear of Lake Superior, 

go light in the Sea of Fears, 

be still as a hint at Rushing Creek 

and long in the Zaire. 

Behold the gold at Crater Lake, 

be hushed at Puget Sound, 

go crooked through the Bering Strait

where all the sails fall down— 

and should the falcon come to you 

with ribbons in her beak,

then don’t forget to count the trees

and all the sounds and all the seas

that you have known, before you fall asleep.