"God Bless Texas"

Westward landscapes.

Gold falls from the sky, covering the ground to a degree which makes the world seem as if it is suddenly healing something very deep. A memory of certain birds sinks into another life while other birds remain present. A cardinal's redness cuts through the depth of pines and rusted leaves moving side to side in descent. Soon enough, snow like shivering moths.

Off the plane in Austin, one is immediately hit with heat giving way to bare earth. Thistled fields lined with cacti and low shrub expands like a shoreless sea. Everything IS bigger...trucks, highways, longhorn bulls, and sky. Everything looms. The sun shines every day but the only birds I see are crows and vultures. A billboard shouts for Biden to “stop buying oil from terrorists.”

My adult daughter falls into my arms and our tears brim unto each other's cheek. My god, letting go is hard and my god, reuniting is the communion from which we are all formed. We explore her new life and show each other new ways of navigating. She takes me to Austin's music scene at night. I take her to see the bat migration from Congress Bridge. All is beautiful and all is impermanent.

We walked along the Colorado River and held hands. We smiled for selfies as a way to hold onto moments. But I am old and getting older; and she is young, finding her miraculous way.

There is no extra mile or last first kisses or one more dark sleep into winter. Beloved You, there is only this.