In the Middle of Nowhere

1

revisiting the vista i use for my laptop’s home screen

i meet the gaze of a hawk hanging in the wind

right where i’m used to seeing the icons for my apps

the rocks are cold my thermos mug keeps burbling

2

the muffled knocks of a pileated woodpecker

opening a new door into an oak

shadows grow darker as the clouds thin out

the mountain hisses in the north wind

i start thinking what if time never passes

and instead it is us who pass through it

a walker’s thoughts only make sense on foot

3

200 years and a trail may sink into the ground

i’m at eye level with roots now

the crisp air smells piney and fungal

leaves are revealing their true faces

acorns thud down at odd moments

like the steps of someone lost in contemplation

4

feet propped up on my front porch railing

lean against one another like two old drunks

my thoughts retreat behind the parentheses of my ears

a Carolina wren chants his teakettle song