Autumn walks

The ant moves across the dirt.....

Capturing the long drawn shadows of trees

on these autumn walks

Hearing the crunch crunch

as my baby stomps through orange, yellow, red leaves

She wants to hold each one

She hands me a burnt orange maple leaf as a token

She finds an interesting knobby stick,

then trades it for a bigger one

It's not really a walk with her, more of a ramble

A game of found objects to hold and let go

When I'm my grounded self I don't rush her

I let go of the idea of getting somewhere

Let the somewhere be the now-moment we're in

The ant moves across the dirt

The sound of truck in the distance

The flutter of tiny bird in a bush

She notices all of this

My daughter is a zen master

and when I'm at my best I meet her there.