Jessica Dampier – Patience
On the highline
Between Calgary and the beginning of autumn
We stood braced against
The shipping containers on a 48
As three days sped past.
Near Flathead
A cluster of deer, startled,
Looked up as we did,
Our antlers broken but our herd intact.
A second before they would not have recognized us as deer.
I’m still not sure what they thought of us.
We stopped at a 2 mile and jumped off,
Soaked bandanas in a creek
In Idaho, somewhere, where the tall spruce
Cast shadows on tall mountains.
A small bear ambled up to the water
And looked at us askance.
I remembered my father explaining things to me
When I was a little girl.
“The earth is our mother.” He said,
“Not because she provides for us…
But because she has patience with us.”
Jessica Dampier