how rough the bark
on the tallest pine;
how huge its weathered girth. Above 
the noon sun has lost track of time 
as I play in my friend's great shade,
stop to absorb the mountains and proclaim

to the undulating valleys
and busy brooks below
that behind me stands my greatest love
on its massive foundation of mountain stones

and because the future 
has not claimed me yet,
I cannot know at three

that memory (and longing)
will forever bind me to this place —
my heart's first love and home

© by Jana Kalina.
Used here with the author's permission.