Climbing easily over huge seaside boulders
Infused with colorful veins scoured by the tide
Admiring the striated patterns underfoot etched in the rock
As I step smoothly up and down from one to the next
Peering below at the swirling crashing waves
Confident in my balance and the grip of my soles
So special to be able to do this as an old man
Even with binoculars dangling and camera in hand
This could be my younger self on the rocks in Marblehead harbor
Or scrambling over the fallen talus under the Hudson Palisades
Or hiking up the summit cone of Mount Washington
Before taking giant steps down to Lake Tear of the Clouds
These rocks are so much older than human life
That in comparison I was born just this instant
Here I feel not so old as I look around at the natural world
Viewing the sky out across the water to the distant horizon
Standing here alive and intact on solid bedrock in Maine
Able to move effortlessly at the edge of the continent
Quietly celebrating reaching a personal annual milestone
The memories of a lifetime merge into this perfect moment
