Bloodline

The early sun broke the frost from the tips of the cattails.
He dove the paddle deep into the creek.
Each stroke, strong and true, threw him further from reality.
This was the life he preferred.
Simple. 
Living, breathing, taking, and giving, 
this was better.
Better than the generation he was a part of.
He thought of him often as he ran his trapline.
He could feel his presence, 
as the wind picked up and blew over his neck.
This made him smile.
He knew they shared a love for nature.
Her forests, and streams,
her meadows, and mountains.
In his time he had walked them too.
He had laid his traps, and loved this land,
as he did now.
His ancestral hero.
Although he never remembered meeting him, 
he knew him well.
Each stroke brought them closer together.
An invisible encounter.
This was their time together, for now.
Some day they will stride together, 
in the land that knows no parting.
And they will look down on their next of kin,
making sure he knows they're there with him.