Thirty

Becoming Thirty

We were thirty miles from Tulsa
Behind us the West stretched
Back in memory to San Francisco
And Yosemite

As we sped over Oklahoma
The hitcher we gave a ride drove
He joined us at Half Dome crossing 
Utah with us and Colorado and Kansas

Today I reached thirty
You gave me your present your hand
The summer night was warm
Warm as the flow of my pleasure

The intimacy you gave me
Shared with the young stranger beside us
May have been less than in our tent
On the heights of Parry Peak

But it was no less astounding an act of love high
And clear as the stars the night I turned thirty


-Jack