What trees came out of here?
What harm has been done before
How could we have ever saved you
Ten thousand miles away?
Chainsaws and axes thrown
Into your hearts of gold
Good soil twisted off again
Broken away and shipped beyond
Pretending another way.
Darkness returns in your future’s growth
Overstory large and bark
Grabbing at a curious mind
Peaks and valleys roughening
Softening along the floor
Moss returns again.
Pointed shoes and unknown teams
Wizards of unknown degrees
Who fall in line with questionable ranks,
Lawless rascals and witnesses
When the song returns to its true tune
Coyotes howl at the full moon
Without truth to be defending
Sprawling out amongst bullfrogs dancing
Does the rhythm carry itself
Between trees of varying thickness?
Through the trails amongst the seeds,
Down the hill and into the distance.
I’m an artistic soul who runs amock
Given in to too many fantasies
Only a hammer to my name
Come and enjoy loving hard
And long haired legged truth
Driving a hard bargain
With a straw hat for the sun
Leaves a weary worker
Leaning in for two more glasses
Reminding him of a ghost
Running deep in his blood
Scoffing at each new penny
Spent in mirths dear folly
Along the road of distant drumming.
Another day we wait as it rains
A day to refresh the sun
Our tents blow their fresh layer of spray
Upon our bending backs
And our boots slop through the mud
As we putter about what’s become familiarly ours
Yet our eyes cease not their yearn
For the forest upon field’s edge
A forever shifting natural escape
Winding its way through this new season
As our tired hands find their way
Along new lines of worn wood
Waiting for its new home.
Land is sprouting
Grass is green
Leaves are budding
Rain every day
Working begins
After Winter’s dormant
Shovel into this topsoil
To learn more constellations
To sail the astronomical seas
To divine with angles found
In unearthly sights unseen
For as I look up to the stars
While frogs make music yonder
And a fire cackles behind my back
To warm my dreaming body
I find a way to waltz around
From Perseus to Orion
And maybe Cassiopeia will
Dance the night away with me.
We walk together,
Straight cornrows
Topsoil mostly exposed,
Concerned with cover
Since Spring is here
And fertile land always grows.
Our first tracks
Through the earth
Respecting biodiverse,
Will find a way
To blossom our seeds
Bounty for all again.
I will overflow the river
I will bend down deep to fill my pail
And hurry to the side of my homestead
I have built this domain
With all I have
My two hands, heart, and family
And tomorrow I shall rise
As the new day unfolds
Ready to see the news
The clouds and trees
Shall blow my way
And trust I have the strength
To overflow
I have called out the ghosts of my wisdom
Lay them down upon the brow of my thought
Spoke to them like a soldier at his challenge
And a mother facing all of her fears
Cry as you want for the sun that has gone
But tomorrow it shall come again, my friend.
Bend around the world we cannot see
For it speaks to us subliminally
A coward backs away from what wants to consume
Stronger yet is that which stands up with a raised fist.
Cry as you want for the sun that has gone
But tomorrow it shall come again, my friend.
A creek trickles its way South
Along the base of Willow Ridge
Leading each wild animal
To fields beyond.
My eyes catch a reflection
Sun hitting a circling eagle
Finding its meal
A superior huntsman.
Mid summer, so no cool breeze here
But running water keeps calm
All the nerves alerted
To sounds of the wild.