On an island with nothing motorized
absolute quiet
and the sound of waves crashing
against land at every turn.
I take a bike around the 8-mile perimeter and keep
stopping
to marvel at this natural beauty.
How did I get so lucky to be born
in such a beautiful place?
Tall trees fragrant
in pine and birch and maple and
the profound fresh water
in so many shades of blue
the rush of crushing waves
in and out and back again
they don’t care aren’t affected by the stupidity of humans
worry and wonder anxiety and angst all gone
on the wings of the wind.
When I am Up North, life is perfect
life is absolutely beautiful
I take off my sunglasses to see clearly
the color and texture and the air
kisses my skin, the sun energizes my soul
the clear sky with only angel wings lapsing
along to disturb the perfect blue.
Cairns around every bend
(not only used as a symbol of Zen Buddhism of the power of the rocks, stacked in perfect order, never falling, all in balance, but also for navigation)
I’m serious they were all along the shoreline 
of the entire 8 miles.
The night so perfectly black
and quiet I can see
through the waves to the depths
it is all clear up here
I want to bring the kids and set us all free
on 8 miles of biking
together.
On the way up, we lunched at Applebee’s in Bay City
beside a strip mall of Kmart and discount shops and vacant spaces.
It felt sad inside the restaurant
dark dismal devoid of character
everything tasted the same
a young woman opened the door for guests
coming and going
did you have a nice lunch she asked
we said yes anyway and she said great,
have a good day
and closed the door again.
We drove on
but she stayed.