Where shall we go today?
To the beach to watch the waves
Break one after another, sloshing
Onto the sand like spilled foam
From a glass of beer, a moment
Of seething drama, then the
Quick furtive withdrawl, as if
The sea knows that it has
Exposed too much.
Or shall we trudge into the mountains
On a broken trail, wishing for silence
Instead of the drone of an airplane
And the thrash of a helicopter
Looking for a fool who has stumbled
Who has lost his bearings and will die
Without realizing his fantastical dreams.
Somewhere in the sanctum of chaparral
The mountain lion creeps upon the
Unsuspecting hare, and the simpleminded
Lizard allows its tail to go missing,
Certain that a new one will grow,
And the gopher snake peers out of its hole
At humans oblivious to all but the
Sound that runs through wires to their ears.
Where are we? The melting sky drips
Onto the ruined earth, which pushes
Forth weeds like children, the ones whose
Parents seek admiration and esteem
For an act so common that no license is required,
No training, nothing but a desire to emulate
The endless repetition of the sea,
The jagged rise of the mountains,
That sink, slowly, ponderously,
Into the darkness of the light.
© Dennis Hathaway
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