Poem: My father's view …the view from Frederick, Colorado 100 years later

One hundred years ago
You played right here
You and your brother
Chasing each other
Working and playing
Singing and praying
The fields stretch to the east
As far as the eye can see
The hills stretch north and south
As far as the eye can see
I didn’t know why your family lived here
But now
One hundred years later
I can see
—
About the poem:
My father and his brother grew up in a house their father built, east of Frederick, Colorado. And as much as things have changed over time, with houses and oil wells popping up and drilling down, the view is still largely dominated by the natural landscape. My view must have been nearly exactly their view, 100 years ago. And that is deeply satisfying. I know little of his childhood years. I know they had a farm and lost it. But seeing the beauty of that view, it seemed that nature was there to console them, as it consoles me.