Cloud Cover

The family decided,
Well, the parents decided,
To pack up and drive all day

To see the national park,
To spend a night at the lodge,
The last day of its season.

So they did. The next morning,
They got up ahead of dawn,
Not too hard that time of year,

And picked their way to the rim
By headlamps to catch sunrise
Over the stone formations.

This was what had brought them here—
Talking about the famous
Sunrise over the hoodoos.

And then the day dawned cloudy,
A cold, not-quite snowing grey,
And the sun rose as a pearl

And none of the hoodoos glowed.
By the time either parent returned
To try again, it was years

After the final divorce
Papers had been filed. That day,
One parent simply observed,

This is why it sucks to be
Tourists. You have to have luck,
And we never get lucky.