Nature

Red-orange, ochre, yellow-green and ruddy wine.

Wind, sky, fresh air and clear, blue water,

My muses, my sisters, my brothers.

Hiking,

Biking,

Swimming,

Canoeing,

Give purpose and significance to life’s adventures.

Gritty streets,

Crowded,

Noisy,

Repugnant and loud!

Pushing, shoving, and moving!

Undulating, Dead Sea of appendages; wasted in the crowd.

Closed-in,

Smothered

and

Stifled.

Shortness of breath, wheezing, trouble breathing,

Smog-choked, coughing and breathless,

Need to get away. Have to get away.

Retreat to a more primitive space

of wilderness streams, trees, and natural lakes.

To the bowels of the Great White I go pleading,

To regain my sense of lost sanity

Creep toward a glimpse of Nirvana,

Images in the headlights,

run,

bolt

and jump away deftly,

Eyes glowing back.

Now honeysuckle and pine fill the air.

Sweet, dew covered earth surrounds me.

H  e  a  r  t  b  e  a  t     s  l  o  w  s

Sound of a camera shutter, a low-pitched, digital whine.

The only thing moving - nature - living and sublime,

                                              

                                                                                          John Wallis 2019