for david.

forging ahead.
this new territory.
beyond the mississippi.

scurrilous invaders.
taking more than we should.
frowning indians stand all around.
but we are proud.

aren't we?
that we can go so far.
be that much more.
look how much we can take.

we crack.
we sweat.
we squint in the new sun.
don't you look around
at the landscape - flat and wide open -
and wish for our rings of mountains?
when we were held in?
you and I?
by land and all that was familiar?

now we walk. we ride. we laugh.
but less lightly.
always moving.
our feet fall on the dense prairie.
in this new life.
you and me.

rivers crossed
can't be uncrossed.
can't be crossed again.
even ferries hold no hope for us now.