She Was Told the Facts of Life Much Too Early

 



She was told the Facts of Life much too early.
She demanded to know why. Because you asked, her mother said.
You were so persistent, I finally gave in to you.

When her father told her the Rockies once were under water,
She refused to believe this plain untruth. Her world was rocked,
She was shocked because this was the first lie
He ever spoke to her.

They drove to the top of their mountain, the one
With their house at the foot, and he stopped the car beside
A slope. He asked her to dig and she found seashells.
She was rocked again.

In the Rockies

In the Rockies, what I've seen of them, there are aspen
And if you ascend the twisty mountain roads in October, go
Where aspen fill inclines that spill spectacularly down from
Roadsides, legions of creased silver trunks, upright as drinking straws
Will be plunged in their shimmery lemon shock of lacey
Leaves. Scorching you coolly, like a peppery soda fountain
Tonic, the aspen will knock you back as easily as you might
grab a defenseless glass of water. You will be imbibed,
They will consume you, the consummate aspen.