Each step closed
The 26.2-mile gap
That separated me
From my home in Wausau.

This trek took its toll
As I’d seen nothing but trees
Towering over
All the beauty I saw:

Homes full of families
Living amongst the hills
Not fancy, not gaudy,
And not bourgeois.

No, the trek toured the hillside
Of homes warmed by wood stoves
That neighbored my mother’s
At my home in Wausau.