I’M IN THE MOUNTAINS NOW

Have you heard about the light above the water
You can see it in the north country all the way south down to Florida
I used to draw it when I was younger
Orange flowers, yellow sun
The sky blue like the water

I'm in the mountains now
But by the sea, my body grows
Like the ocean, it holds all the weight of the world
It is there that I don't grow old

I remember the flowers, yellow and orange
Bursts of sun in my mother's garden
I squinted my eyes, the sky was so bright
In my blue dress, I watched how she picked them

Under the green umbrella, we held giant sunflowers
In the summertime, in my bare feet
My grandfather's hands, the sun shining down
I watched how he picked out the seeds

My mother told me stories
Of holes opening up in the sand
She could see other worlds that were different than ours
It seems like I dreamed them, she said

I'm in the mountains now
But a light shines on the sea
Photographs hold all the bursts from the sun
Shining on my childhood, just like a dream.