Happy Dance

Photo by Bonnie Kitahata on Unsplash

I measure her moods by the
Color of her clothing
She wears orange
Not her best look
Neither is dirty-sock white
The robe she wore for days
She tries yellow 
It fades to sickly beige
Black dress drama at night
I prefer the one with sequins 
To monochrome black
When finally she puts on her
Favorite everyday dress
Soft Carolina blue 
Like my Alma Mater – 
Which in Latin means 
Nourishing Mother – 
I dance hands held high
She pulls my uplifted arms
Into an oceanic embrace
I inhale her enormity
Free from smoke and ash
Tell her she is beautiful

If this week of very dangerous air quality ratings from wildfire smoke taught me anything, it is to never take clean air or blue sky for granted. It was suffocating and inescapable. And when we finally saw some blue sky this morning, it felt like coming home to a favorite and familiar embrace. I did a happy dance and reached my hands to the beautiful blue sky.