CARRIER


I carry her
piggyback
through leaves & laughter


splashed with sunlight
across fields
of summer


as if we were
the one
creature


Dad & daughter
or I her
St. Christopher


her riding high
on my shoulders
over stream  after stream


she clasping my curls
to steer
her noble steed


always seeing
the world
from atop of me


she my
little bird
I her perch


crawling now
into bed
cuddled into my back


her words
sleepy
on my shoulders


where I carry
her still
. . .into my dreams