a valley is my life
a natural paradise

I was born of a valley
a winding lake monster

filled with blossom and pollen
fragrance captured, hilled in hands

I am wet with wandering
rivers deepen my back

enter me and I deliver passage
running between the mountains

I am a yoga pose interrupting the plain
downward, upward, bridged and arched

I take opposing sides
stand for justice and opportunity

I live in the vale of a nation
a place of peace and protection

governing a confederated compromise
caught between languages

I possess but my birth tongue narrow
uniting tributaries into a force

I am shelter from the storm
yet can capture a cloud that pours

I am grape vines within a desert dry
a watershed of cranberry bogs and frogs

I am a water way, a water course
an alta vista on the 18th tee

I’m a downhill, an uphill
a frozen trail upon to ski

I am a starburst on the right
the fern and shadow to the left

I am a depression made in time
eroded, I’m flooded with emotions

fill me with your footsteps
call my name, I am there

I am a presence, a place
all places I have been, here

in me, my stories, rise above
my life is a valley filled love.

∞

Submitted as part of “National/Global Poetry Writing Month” (#NaPoWriMo #GloPoWriMo).

Today’s prompt:  Day Fourteen:  “Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that delves into the meaning of your first or last name. Looking for inspiration? Take a look at this poem by Mark Wunderlich, appropriately titled “Wunderlich.”

30 Poems in 30 Days

All text and photography © Dale Schierbeck

…. more of my original Poetry on EatsWritesShoots here.