I hand wash the antique camisole
then hang it on the line.
I watch it gently blow
in the wind
anchored by
the wooden clothespins.

The prairie breeze touches
each thread
each memory
the hard work
the heartache
the hardheaded.

Open to adventure
she willingly came here.
She arrived to the vast open prairie
her dreams
lit by the stars scattered across the black night
by sparkling lakes
honking geese
gentle grasses
billowing clouds and sky everywhere.

Her dreams swirled
twisted and turned
with the wind.
Wind that had traveled
for miles and miles
stopping at nothing
but never arriving to its destination
only tuckering out
with a whisper
at the border of Wisconsin.

Like a tenacious bird
building a nest
of grass and straw
hope and promise
She too trusted in nature
and her place
in all things
wild and untamed.