I asked if she was coming or going

The U-Haul truck in the driveway was quite the showing

Inside was a shirtless man in camouflage pants

A horse broken off a merry-go-round

A digital camera and a bike

She jumped off the porch and did a little dance

She asked me, “Did you hear that sound?”

I stood perplexed as a small bird fluttered by

The beat of its wings I couldn’t deny

She asked if I would join her for a hike

I had a million things to do but figured it’d be nice

I pulled out my phone

She told me, “Don’t”

I interjected, “But won’t?…”

She led me away – off the sidewalk at the end of the street

Beyond the luxury apartments, past the reeds

We were in a quiet area along the water

She said, “City life is killing me”

I went to Trivia but I don’t know enough pop culture

I’m better off hunting vultures”

A thin girl with short hair appeared

She said to the other girl, “I haven’t seen you in years”

The sun sank low

Soon all around us there was an orangey glow

A woman pulled up in the creek in a big kayak

Her hair was black

She told us, “Get in the back”

As she rowed (she had cardio for days) someone crawled out from under a blanket in the boat

Her hair was black too

“I tell ya, it’s exhausting trying to be anyone but you”

She took off a wig, revealing beach blonde hair

“Y’all can join me for a swim,” she said, “if you dare”

In no time she was in

The woman who’d been paddling the kayak followed

The rest of us jumped in too

She said, “I know this is a hard pill to swallow….but you don’t know about the future

Remember her?” And her? And her?” She pointed to each of the women in the water

“They’re from your past”

One of the women floated to the surface of the water riding that merry-go-round horse

Another took a picture

Another held tightly to what I had thought was a man: it was a shirtless manikin

“My boyfriend,” she giggled

We all bobbed in the water as it rippled

The sky grew dark but then boasted streaks of green

Northern lights

The one woman told me, “I remembered you always wanted to see them”

Up on the shore a tall woman was caught in between

On a beach cruiser

She yelled across the water, “I’m not a loser!”

She ran to the creek and dove in

She swam to us

A band of me and all my youthhood friends

They chanted, “This is what becomes of real women!”

The lady who started the whole thing from the U-Haul truck

Told me I’m not stuck

She said, “ride your bike, walk, see the Northern lights

You can’t make most things right

Let nature captivate you”

We swam back to shore

I’d wanted to stay more

But back on land there was that U-Haul van

Those five women got in

With all the relics of my childhood

The adventure did my soul some good

I went home and gathered up my husband and dog – took us all to the ocean (instead of the bog)

While our hearts beat

We tasted the sea

The spirit of adventure is not broken