Daughters Go West - Non-Prose Verse, Non-Prosaic Hopes

    We brought our girls into the world on the West Coast, in southern California. Then we went west, but more south, to the west coast of South America. And ultimately, we settled and raised them in the East. A few hours from the Atlantic Coast. Among the original U.S. colonies.

    2019

    August

    A daughter left the house, our first.

    Born the year of the great attack

    Raised on sands of the southern shores of the Pacific

    Temperate climes

    

    Started kindergarten in the capital suburbs

    Ever growing Loudoun County

    Returned to the Golden State

    With more beaches and alleged mountain lions...

    But summer found her and us in the humid Mid-Atlantic

    On to third grade.

    The second one began her kindergarten,

    Where they both became entrenched in the Land of Sugar

    A neighborhood school- 

    A community of trust, where others removed their children by choice

    But we were content

    The girls excelled

    The years advanced 

    Middle School

    High School

    College approached:

    And my girl, our girl, the first daughter 

    Headed west.

    And south. 

    Two hours away.

    Not too far, but just far enough.

    We saw the sun set, we saw the distant hills

    And thought of her.

    

    We talked, we visited

    By phone, by camera, by occasional in-person visit

    Some emails, some letters

    She had a new life

    Apart

    Me the father, we the parents

    Offered prayers, and looked inside ourselves

    Is she okay? Is she happy?

    Did we do her right?

    We look to the west:

    The sun setting

    The clouds amassing

    The hopes and dreams collecting

    She shined and dimmed

    As we all do

    Growing pains and lessons

    Classes, roommates, friends and romances

    Friends come, they go too

    Teachers and lessons

    Life struggles and challenges

    Enter the pandemic

    ! 

    An exclamation point does not do it justice

    However:

   

    Life goes sideways

    Other windows open when some close

    Our daughter was back with us, east and north

    She grew and climbed and pressed on

    And moved further from west

    To east 

    To the south

    Where she continues to live and thrive

    We smile and rejoice

    And now she has plans for more western voyages

    And dreams.

    Dreaming on...

    2022

    The next daughter goes off to school

    The adult world

    Some thirty-two hours away (by motor car)

    Close to grander mountains of the West

    She also learns, and grows

    Roommates and lessons,

    Friends, and in this case cousins

    From California 

    We see her shining and beaming

    Learning, growing

    Praying, adjusting

    Loving, dancing

    We look to the setting sun,

    I see the distant clouds and horizons

    I see limitless hopes

    As I do for the wandering daughters

    They both came (to us) among orange groves

    An easy drive from the sea

    Far West!

    A short distance from the mountains

    They came in time and patience

    With love

    Time

    Dreams

    Work

    

    Planning

    Scheming

    Laughing

    Singing

    Dancing

    Dreaming

    Praying

    Leaning

    Preening

    Not much screaming

    Working, scrambling, collecting

    

    Some toil

    Some sweat

    And constant care

    With the state of being aware

    They move and grow

    Create and glow

    Like our beloved sun

    The ever-present orb

    That sets in

    The West