Our Place in the Woods

We need this, don’t we?
This place only we
seem to know about.

Where we can quickly
find some peace
whenever we go out.

A path with no cause
to make us worry
about who we might see.

With no care for
where we are going
or how we need to be.

We just walk.
Explore.
Contemplate the movement of our feet.

Until sniffing the air,
you dash ahead,
no sign of retreat.

Watching carefully,
as you move across
shadows, leaves, and sticks,

I trail behind,
wondering
which way you’re going to go next.

Birds flutter—
herons, ducks—
while we move past that tangle of snakes.

Past the only person,
who hurries off
to keep this place safe.

And oh, this place,
right in our backyard—
made for us, wasn’t it?

To think we wouldn’t know it still,
had we not
ventured a bit.

Or that had we not opened our ears,
for friends
to show the way,

the search would carry on—
so unknowingly—
well past today.

Oh, funny life,
finding solitude
conversing with others,

learning peace doesn’t come
without the stories
of our brothers.

— ❧ —

Poetry From Nature

There’s a place I like to go that not many know about, and it often feels like a secret place just for me—and my dog! It’s been a very helpful spot over the years to get a quick dip in nature and clear my head, but it may be even more special to Bullet. If I don’t get him out for a little hike each day, his spirit gets ornery. He gives me moody eyes. He stops eating. And worse, he sometimes pees or poops in a corner of the house, just to make a point. He’s so emotional.

But a trek in the woods always calms his nature. If he gets out, the house stays clean, and he’s happy. I suppose the same goes for me. Although if I’m out of sorts, I can still find the bathroom.

For other poems inspired by nature, check out In Verse.

This tangle of water snakes was an unexpected surprise!