The Best View of the Sunset

I came after
a dinner party
on the living room floor.
I played hide ń seek
in my dad's
darkroom.
I learned that
textured walls leave
funny scars.
I found Easter eggs
on the top of the swing set.
I've feared someone
with all my heart.
I've been buried
to my head in sand.
I've tried to dig a hole
to China.
I've been a shark
in my back yard.
I've been an orphan
running away,
making soup out of mud.
I've been a pirate,
a horse, an Olympian,
and a pilot.

I've traveled 6,000 miles
to visit a friend.
I've climbed to the
top of the tallest
church in the world.
I snuck inside a
castle.
I've tripped in the Alps.
I've held back tears
just to make the
good-bye more pleasant.
I've signed with a
Deaf orphan,
Norma,
and then contemplated
sneaking her across
the border.
I've squeezed fresh
orange juice.
I've danced in the
rain,
in three different countries.

I cried for Columbine.
I cried for Columbine
because I couldn't
leave my school to go
home.
I had to hide under
my desk in the
second grade classroom
to hide from the
gunmen.

I once walked
backwards off a
cliff, and pretended
it didn't hurt.
I once gave a
piggy-back ride to
two children at the
same time.
I once wrote a poem
that made people
cry.
And only once,
put all my eggs
in one basket
and was crushed
when it tipped over.
Twice, I got caught in a
riptide and feared
for my life.
Twice I've seen
a moose while
backpacking with
my dad.
And twice,
I've repelled off a cliff.
We lay in the middle
of the road
because we
saw it in a movie.
I've been moved to
tears by the beauty
of the stars.
I've gotten the call,
“I'm sorry, he's dead,”
in the middle of
my school day.
Twice I built a
snow cave in my
front yard.
I've discovered the
irony of the word
FUNeral.
I watched my
hamster die.
I've had many
six hour conversations.
I've played with
dry ice.
Once I went to
an Indian reservation
and decided I want
to go back.

I've seen the sunset
from above the clouds,
and decided that God
has the best view.
He can see the colors
spreading out for miles
as the Sun dips below
the horizon of clouds.

I've seen the joy
of God shining on
the faces of
abandoned children.
I've spread rumors,
regifted birthday presents,
and walked down the aisle.
I sat in the rain
at the Air force
Academy graduation,
and I cheered when
the Sun came out.
I laughed at my dad
when he did a
somersault on skis
right before I
did my own.
I've had a face
full of frosting,
and ran through the
sprinkler to wash it off.
I have worn a kimono.
I was touched by the same sermon
spoken in both Spanish
and German, in Juarez
and Ulm.
I don't know how
to cope with loss.
I've set my goals
to high to reach.
I've stopped a car
to save a ladybug.