Mt. & by Janet Bowdan
We wanted to climb Mt. Ampersand but
that day, the day we had set ourselves
the goal not just of climbing it but
coercing our little ampersands, our
et ceteras, the joys of our life to hike
with us, that day apparently was their line
in the sand, the minus sign, their n+1,
their clear as a bell memories of a promise
one parent unwisely made of a last hike
the day before, a hike likewise promised
to be quick & easy but taking hours longer
than the promotional materials implied and
therefore so taxing on the nerves that no
hike could be expected of them today, no
eager feet swinging out of the car scampering
up the path for promised blueberries, view,
healthful air, no, no, no, &c., &c, &c.
Janet Bowdan’s poems have appeared in APR, Best American Poetry, Frak\ture, The Rewilding Anthology and elsewhere. Her chapbook, Making Progress, came out from Finishing Line Press in 2018. She teaches at Western New England University and lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her husband, their son, a cat and a chinchilla.