"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose."
–Whitman, from "Song of the Open Road"


Yahara Spring II


Out the door and across the street I go among many.
We are but schools of air-breathing fish as we weave
over the top of the bridge and down the park street.
Out the door and across the street I go to run along the side of the lake
where the wise old oaks dip their limbs comfortably to taste
and have learned the great art of non complaining.
Out the door and across the street I go and see children
lined at the foot of the monkey bars, sliding and swinging,
as the wintering birds dare now stand tall to sing.
Out the door and across the the street I go to escape
the indoor clamoring of water pipes and cold quarreling,
the soft wind that blows outside a new friend.