Wander To Withdraw (day 3049)

I wandered here as if lost
One eye on the path
The other asking my Gods
What makes a Man a Man.
I saw sunlight between the boughs
I saw spiders in their webs
I saw the great Fir’s bark
So cavernous and traversed.
I felt deep inside my heart
The partridge that took flight;
So close and thunderous,
So quickly she was off.
I saw the dam the busy Beaver built
Saw his second one too
Which made me feel like an invader
A secret nest so wild.
Then I turned at a landmark
Headed towards where I knew
And back to my familiar trail
To home I then withdrew.

4 Whole Days (day 2813)

I lost my dog a few days ago
He was my world that you never knew.
It brings me sadness
How little time he spent here
And recognizing how my own life
Moves on from his presence.
I want to remember him
In the little ways he would
Make me feel special,
No mortal soul, I should dare,
Could compare in devotion
And thus it is to the stars
– His own shining star –
That his soul shall live on
Forever in tonight’s sky.
I remember each time
He got under my nerves
He’d run around in circles
Speeding away and then closer
My blood would boil,
My temper would raise,
But as I was trying to control him
I too had to control my own self.
Remembering this, I soon found strength
To take him under my wing
And lead him forward.
Yet no longer can I share this with him
No longer is he waiting at the top of the bank
For me to emerge, amidst day’s light
Wondering what it was
That I was to get up to again.
I miss him, my friend, every part of him
Even taking the ticks out
From his thick winter wool,
I miss his little bites
And my own barking of commands
I miss him involved
In my every day routine
Scooping out food
Making him sit and shake.
I notice my changing;
It’s been 4 whole days
Since I walked through the forest
We minded together;
I notice me changing
Into without my best friend;
I notice me lingering longer
Upon tasks full of focus,
No longer taking moments
To shower some love
Upon a small beast
Whom I every bit miss dearly.

Fresh Snow (day 2678)

Upon the breath
Of mornings frost
Four deer parley
Just out the hedge
To which feels so
Nearer than
Long past dreams
Shaken off
Which barks at dormancy
Like soon Spring’s bust.
Yet laying softly
Which carries remains
Of late night travellers
Snow, of course,
That came so quietly
Floundered about
Biting at the air.

Those Trees (day 2524)

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.

Inner Bark (day 2425)

I’m turning over a new leaf
– Budding spirals green in depth,
Spring’s warming showers –
My lines have turned
My shadows shifted
My inner bark has begun to stretch
To where my roots know how to find.
This heart of mine has slept and drank
My eyes have wept and cleared
New toes of length have wiggled free
For today I continue blossoming.

Ancient Forest, Ranger (day 2142)

Walking through the ancient forest
I pick up broken sticks
I pick up what has left the home
To wander alone, to wander, Ranger.

Many times I’ve shared my thoughts
With wholesome handsome faces,
In a trunk of ancient bark
I sing songs of fallen trees
That show me signs of what has begun
In silver rays of spying lightness
And broken sticks below my foot
Though an ancient forest I remain.