We rode in the back of the red pickup truck
Huddled against the cab.
We slowly turned on hairpin curves
To reach a trail that stretched for miles.
Through jack pines and past granite piles
Away across the top of the long mountain.
In bright sunlight over newly frozen ground
Scarlet sugar maples
Shed their leaves, unlike modest oak
Who cover nakedness and hold
Throughout the winter's icy cold
Their leaves high above the mountain's two-track road.
There we were freed to run as fast as we could
And as far as we could.
Shouting, screeching, waving our arms,
Stopping to look at hardy moss,
At teaberry we came across.
At ground pine and the pockets of skifted snow.
Peanut butter and ritz cracker sandwiches
And fresh-dipped spring water
Awaited us when we were done.
In gratitude we praised the fare
Delicious as we lingered there
Where cooped-up children could stretch their autumn legs.