Passages 48

The Torne rears up

on Thruway right.

Old Red winds up

to the summit:

panorama

hiker’s delight.

Gabriel stares past.

 

Mohonk’s Sky Top

catches my eye

at New Paltz stop.

Through the Crevice

and three ladders

I pop up free.

Gabriel is stuck.

 

The Catskill Range

gladdens my heart.

We hurry by

the Devil’s Path.

Gabriel lingers in the slough.

 

New Baltimore

Bikers for Peace

sunglasses, beards,

headbands and chained

wallets, club patches.

Trailer muraled

with flags, eagles,

PTSD.

Gabriel is not those men.

 

Glens Falls Rest Stop.

The sycamores

shade our table.

Amid the woosh

of the Northway

we eat and dream.

Gabriel likes this place.

 

Vermont Welcome

Center offers

free coffee, maps

a bench with signs:

Burlington, Stowe,

Montpelier.

Gabriel tenses up.

 

I swear I saw

a Bactrian camel grazing

in Ferrisburgh.

A colored hay

airplane readies

for pilotless

takeoff. Leftward,

Blue Lake Champlain

shows skimming boats.

Bernie-ville nears.

Camel’s Hump looms.

Gabriel gazes right.

 

Starbucks. Coffee time.

I drink outside.

Gabriel meets

his manager.

Their connection

seems warm and firm.

My drive is done.

His escape done.

Gabriel launches

his Bactrian life.