DRY CREEK ROAD 1946

Dirt track before asphalt,

ruts in mud, December sycamores

after a rain waiting to undress,

like always—it feels the same

to escape upcanyon in your painting,

leaving main roads behind

before it was engineered

for 18 wheels to haul gravel—

town politics behind us.

Before the flood of ’55,

Terminus Dam in ’61,

much has changed

except for the feeling you’ve captured

of peaceful adventure

at every beginning of our road home.

                      for Myrtle Sue Redford