Rock Tea

a poem sent to me by Debbie Goldberg, from "The Writer's Almanac". Enjoy.

Rock Tea
by Gary Gildner
At a hot springs in Sawtooth Mountains 8,000 feet above the level sea,
my two-year-old daughter enters the steamy shallows, and sings
I'm naked! I'm naked! And clings to herselfas if the pink body under her slender arms might slip away.
I do not want her to slip away, not ever,but I know one day she will. I know
one day she will put on her snow bootsand take up the trail in earnest—
and I will call out I am happy for her, very happy, but sad too,
and hope I will see her again.
From the pool's moony wash she brings me her cupped hands. Rock tea, Papa, you like some?
I cup her hands in my own, and drink. It is delicious, I say,
more delicious than air itself, than life, may I have another?
And perhaps you will have one too? Perhaps, thank you,
In this way, gently over rock tea,we celebrate how far we have traveled together.
"Rock Tea" by Gary Gildner, from Cleaning a Rainbow. © BkMk Press, 2007.