I can never completely like
a city without an ocean
or a bay or at least a river
where boats come and go
and people sit and watch
water birds fish and dive.

What would Paris be without
the Seine meandering through it
Or San Francisco without
its bridges and islands and
broad calm bay stretching
around to the wild Pacific?

Some folks say significant
mountains behind a city
like Denver or Kathmandu
make up for lack of lake
or bay and are enough
to make imagination soar.

I like mountains all right and
admit to wanting when I see one
to climb as far up as I can go
to look out and see if there
is an ocean out there somewhere
or if not that at least a waterfall.