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For My Father
Melanie Green

You are my ski jump.
You are my flight suit.
You, my Zorro,
my piggy-back,
my penny toss
and butterscotch.
You are my glister
and gallop.
You, my meadow
of bluebonnet.
You are my engine. You
are my tin man.
You, my jaunty
and my grit,
my trigonometry.
You are my Mt. Hood.
You, my palisade
and sparkler,
my white water,
my bristlecone pine.
You are my map.
You are my flashlight.
You, my night sky
blossoming
with star fall.

—
Melanie Green’s most recent collection of poetry, A Long, Wide Stretch of Calm, was published by The Poetry Box. Earlier books are: continuing bridge and Determining Sky. Her poems have been a part of modern dance performances, and she was a participant in the 2000 Word & Hand collaborative arts exploration between poets and visual artists. She has been published in Kosmos Quarterly, Buddhist Poetry Review, The Poeming Pigeon, and elsewhere.

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