Up Close and Personal

Today walking fast up the mountain
In a place untamed
Frazzled
Seeking shelter
Trying to flee.

But we try
Oh how we try
To calm it down
These wild places around us
Inside us,

To fit our needs
Our motorcycles and cups of coffee
Our cold feet and television

And the tree
Cares not
For blisters
For barking dogs
And demanding children

I am a place untamed
When I visit you
When I crouch down low
And see your world
From ankle high
And dirt and rock and brush and grass
Are my neighbors.

Dear tree
Your indifference is
My own to claim

When I do not feel your love
It is because the world of man
Inside me
Has come undone.