Walking early morning single file
Following your lead as usual
Knowing you always bring a map
With trail markers to guide us
We are listening for animals
Looking around for movement
Hoping to notice what lives here
In this remaining undeveloped patch
You keep up a steady pace
I sometimes match stride for stride
But often pausing and lagging behind
When something catches my eye
Dropping back to quickly take photos
Collected for later to get a closer look
Now in a hurry to catch you up
Taking big steps moving quickly
Sometimes you wait for me
Eager to point out what you have seen
Sometimes you just keep going
But I have longer legs than you
We are each on our own
Moving independently
But never very far apart
Paired up happily together
After dinner walking side by side
Going around the neighborhood
Talking about whatever interests
Watching the evening light fade
Passing people along the way
Keeping their routine like us
In this the dog walking hour
Arriving back home from work
We mark the passage of time
Watching the moon wax and wane
Locating mars and venus east and west
And jupiter up high overhead
Repeating the same daily pattern
Taking a certain comfort from it
As long as we can continue like this
Stepping out together
