This Cedar Forest

Patches of sunlight dotted throughout during the warm days
Tiny slivers of moonlight cutting pitch
Rustling branches
From what little wind makes it this far

This is my history
This is my life’s path winding between these trees
This is the home I was born in
This is the home I will die in 

There’s dangers here
There’s comforts here
This is my heart with all its clutter
There’s no place quite like this

There’s a canopy I can’t climb to
And undergrowth difficult to traverse
These are the mysteries I will never solve

Nighttime is so dark
It can be beautiful, but the blindness it brings
Causes me to stumble
Scraping and scratching myself
It hurts sometimes
But this intrinsic blindness
It’s part of this raw deal that is “living”
And like this forest
Those pains will be gone someday too

Illuminated by day
Some truths can be found behind this tree
Or under that rock
Or pulled from this or that hole
Or in the stare of a deer or fox
Or in the chirp of a bird
Or in that gentle breeze
(That beautiful rustling sound!)
Or in the patches of sky visible through clearings

Indeed, glimpses of the human experience
Can be found here if I look hard enough
Past the many shadows
And like this forest
Those pleasures will be gone someday too

The deer and foxes
Birds and frogs
Make more sense to me
Than the people that can not, that will not
Walk under these branches

I can stand on the edge
I can look at the fields beyond
I can observe the outer settlements
I can wave at those congregations
Once in a while
Someone waves back
Whether kind or just mystified, I can never tell

I can stand here inside, looking out
But this forest
With it’s blinding darks
Beautiful scents
Frightful disturbances
Calming breezes
I can never leave
So I try to find a place to rest
And feel at home
For the rest of my years

September 19, 2024