For One Who Dances Between Fires by Carolyn Gregory

          for Pam Uschuk

She was always part of the mountains
where bayberry and columbine grew among rocks
and the eagles soared high

taking love with her like food
and water in a backpack for traveling,
her dogs at her heels.

Fate dealt blows with death
and illness,
the scorching path of summer fires
forcing exit with books piled
high in a car,
carrying her to safety.

Her husband and sisters,
her dogs and poems were
always with her

whether she was hiking through rocks,
water falling in veils around her feet
or escaping the summer's crazy fires.



Carolyn Gregory’s poems have been published in American Poetry Review, Main Street Rag, Off the Coast, Cape Cod Review, Cutthroat, Borderlines: Texas and the Seattle Review. She was nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and previously won a Massachusetts Cultural Council Award. Her two books were published in 2009 and 2015. Additionally, she has reviewed classical music and theatre over the past twenty years.