Reunion Number Twenty-Two Poem by Bill Galvin

After two days driving across mountain and desert
The town of Green River, WY, is home base,
At the northern end of Flaming Gorge Nat’l Rec Area.

My goal here is to make a commemorative visit
To an area we visited on our first long trip together;
This is a special one that I saved for the trip back.
As a guide to the proper location on a cliff edge,
I reference an aged, faded, discolored photograph
From 1973, in which Deb stands confidently,
Hands on hips, surveying the river gorge,
Standing at the edge of the rim.
To me it epitomizes in a simple snapshot
Her confidence, her poise, her imperturbable nature…
Her love of the natural world… her expanding horizons;
A young woman feeling delight in a beautiful world;
She is full of optimism and hope looking forward
To a life full of love and adventure.

White shorts, yellow striped tee, straight blonde hair;
Surveying the brilliant red cliffs of the canyon.

We never revisited this area in any of our future trips,
Because it was so out of the way; a half day to enjoy;
So we would just tip our hats as we cruised by
East to west on either Interstate 70 or 80.

A family of bighorn sheep graze nearby
Among cottonwoods and birches;
A lone moose walks through the rim forest;
Bitterbrush blooming little pale yellow flowers,
The color of your hair then. And yellow violets,
And yellow lanceleafs dot the forest floor.

No viewpoint looks the same to me now;
There are fences and stone walls to prevent falls.
Then I go to a new visitor viewing building
Right on the corner of a cliff edge;
It has two adjacent floor to ceiling windows
To give the impression of standing outside,
And I realize this is the spot where we stood
Before this structure was built; this view is that good.

I take photos, and the comparison old to new is right.
- - - -
((I look for a private area to leave your beautiful locks,
And find myself in Canyon Rim Campground,
Not yet open for the season.
I walk along the rim trail and find a nice view;
Pretty much in the same area as that old photo,
And take a portion of your hair and deposit it in a crevice;
I also take another bit and offer it to the winds.

An updraft carries them back behind me to the camp sites;
I laugh at the reminder of how much you loved camping.

Others know what I’m doing here today…
Your sister Denise is thinking of you and the picture,
And wants me to say hello to you while here.
Your stepson, Bill, told me you visited him last night
In a dream, to tell him that you loved him… always did.
I knew that to be true… and now he is reassured.
Thanks for that.

Everyone misses you.

Soon I’ll be back in MA to what was once our home;
And another chapter in my life without you will begin.))


6-10-2015 (begun Laramie, WY; finished Staunton, VA)