wilderness reflection from the lakeshore

far from highways
sweet chunks of granite and quartz
split sheer along hillsides and jagged ridges,
cluttering the forest with loose interglacial sparkling love,
beautiful in the patience
of nature.

thundercloud mist
rolls mountaintops savvy,
grays broad-leaf maples
lush raindrops collect

wind bending treetops
birds arise in sudden silent
flock turning in the dark
afternoon wind
the smells of deep pine crowded lakes
are so foreign to city pavement smog,
incomprehensible while
I'm adrift in this golden twilight
burning towards purple.

We must save this, wild
part of ourselves with
ancient roots,
the memory of bone tools
in our rough hands,
the crackle of firewood
and patience of a rhythm
so slow we can hurry nothing.
How can we reverse trends
curve straight lines
let the freeze and thaw
and sensual spring work
on our ossified, cancerous
ideas of controlling
the universe?

How can we return to simple lives,
the patterns that
never went silent but
were drowned by steel mills, internal combustion, photons from screens,
mass-produced drugs, the silencing effect of
lipstick, the hum of chest
freezers?

Paddle me to shore,
steer me in the rich sounds of a bustling lake,
for we're tired and full of love
in our hearts-
some simple food and
emerging stars will tide
me 'til tomorrow
when we both wake
to create our world.