There is no time not to love.
—Rainer Maria Rilke

Compare the jagged white line
against the sky to the top
of a freshly iced cake, the distant
mountains clearing the mind
like winter wind.

What you have held tightly,
and swore to always hold,
this is the time to let it go.

The windshield needs cleaning,
you think as you drive east.
Do not mistake this for another
metaphor, though it is that, too.

Keep the snowy peaks in view,
even as the foothills rise to
swallow them. Let them fill you
with breath; allow their immensity
to overtake you.

And when you get to your
destination, let your first exhale
release what needs releasing.
Dismiss everything that is not
love in favor of what is—

pure and cold and clean,
grateful.

(With thanks to Joe Chan for the use of his lovely photo!)