children coming into the park
running ahead, getting tugged back
on an invisible leash
bouldering up the giant melted rocks
or walking with downcast eyes
between tall trees
as we pack back from camp
noses sensitized to the varied soils
remembering now deodorant, sunscreen,
bugspray, shampoo
every family speaks its own language,
French, Russian, Urdu, Japanese
this morning
as they gather here in Sunday best
(or brightest, flourescing
yellow, blue, red, pink)
to join some singular feeling
of sandstone ridge
and distant ocean