Up North

Creative Strategy #22: There are no escapes from reality; there are only vacations.

UP NORTH

One day my dad had had enough

& he started packing

He packed his rods his tacklebox & lures

his cooler a carton of Strohs

the transistor radio

so he wouldn’t miss the Tigers

He spent a long time packing

(He always was a neat man)

but he had to know

he could pick up

whatever he needed

on the way up north

(that’s where he was heading)

Up North

That peculiar retreat Michiganders call

pretty much anywhere north of the thumb

A remote place of evergreens sand dunes

miles of beaches & curling silver rivers

teeming with rainbow trout

A man who has had enough

could find a welcome there

a place to sit & crack a can

cast his line & see what the current gave up

Now when he was packed

He told my mom

& she said fine

& he looked at her

(I can just see his face

proud defiant & wounded

all at the same time

—the worst poker face you ever saw)

So she said Fine you go

Have yourself a time

& leave me with these 5 kids

& I’ll tell everybody what you did

I’ll call your daddy your sisters your brothers & your boss

& let’s see what they think about it

Well he didn’t go

& she didn’t tell anybody

except me some 25 years later

Who knows

Maybe she saw something familiar

in my face

That look men get when they have had it

when they are thinking about

packing everything they need

leaving everything they don’t

& heading

Up North

—8/20/22