Where is camp

where is camp?


she thinks
it
sits at the base of
a
series of
avalanche slides
in the
middle of the
Collegiate range
just
to the east of the Western Slope
over beyond the
river's edge
at the North End of the
Arkansas valley
redolent with
the sounds of laughter
and singing
and the silence of prayer
when we are
all
alone with our thoughts

for him
it seems
to be
a
lake Long and clear
between the birch
and the pine
west of the
Altlantic but
East of
here
it is windy and
green and the
color of
sails and
the wake of a
ski boat
it is Indian lore
and
khaki shorts

so where is
camp and
why do we care
when the
grass upon the
lawn turns
brown and the
columbine and
yarrow
no longer
bend in the coolness of
a mountain
breeze

why does camp
not
hibernate like the bears
in the
mountain caves
above tree line

why does it
kick up its heels and
call us to the dance
in our
hearts throughout the
winter months when
other summer
images
curl up and doze in
sleepy
dreaming positions
of surrender to
holidays and
hot chocolate

why is camp still
calling out from
its summer space of
sun and sails and
silken breezes full
of
salted spray and
sandstone
summits

I think it is
because
camp is
not
a place that
can be
put aside and
taken out
only when the
calendar
turns
beyond april
and across a
month of
may

camp is a
living
breathing
palpable
reachable
space
within us

it is
what we want
most to be
when
we
stop
from all
the day
to day of
notebooks and
grades....
schedules
and
carpools, chores
and timeclocks...
appointments
and
things we must postpone

camp is
not a
place
you can go to
and come
home from
and
leave...only allowing
it to
resurface again
after
the dust
behind a summer's
day of
service
and the selfless care of
a child's fears
has settled
on the road that leads
out the gate
and beyond our best hopes
of who we were
and what the world
might look like
or what we might "imagine"
it could be

camp is
who
we
are
when
we
are at our best

when
selfishness
has given
place to kindness
and
we find our
own
in
another's good
it is "whither" and grace
and peace from on high

camp is
the
space where
hope
is
realized
and
peace is
still...nevertheless...
always
the same
power within
us to
be more
than
we
ever even
imagined...

camp is
all the
people livng
life in peace
where
you may say that
I'm dreamer
and
the world
can
live as one

camp
it is not
a place you go
home from

it is
home...
the
kingdom...
the space where
love
alone
is
life......
within







K