Today’s Poetic Asides prompt was to make the title, “The Meaning of [blank]”. “The Meaning of Life” kept flitting through my head, blocking out other ideas, until I thought of this.
The Meaning of the Trail
As we round the bend,
we enter suddenly into a clearing,
the sun warming us
like a benediction.
How much further, I ask,
trying to keep the fatigue
out of my voice.
Not far, he reassures me
as we dip back into
the cool dry chaparral,
his back a guiding presence,
the silence broken only
by the sound of our padded footsteps
as we continue our ascent.