I take each step with firmer footing,
A weightier substance below me now
My gaze is liberated, flitting free,
To see life unfettered, abounding.
The path I tread is solitary.
Silence pours its peace.
A breeze stirs up the dusty road
And leaves begin their dance.
The trees they tell their story,
The souls whom they have known.
Their bark filled with midnight secrets,
Branches dripping lonely tears.
I wonder what they see in me,
Those timeless pillars sprouting forth.
Am I to them a nuisance here,
Or do they welcome me, their guest?
The other humans pass by me
And I shift my eyes to meet their gaze.
Hoping for a glance of life,
But they never look my way.
Their hands are rigid, grasping always
The tool within their hand.
Soaking in the screen’s blue light,
They dare not see the sun.
These other souls pass on by,
As if I were not there to see them.
In silence we move on,
Alone again, even more.
Breath sucked from my lungs goes stale.
Eyes back on the trail and hollow steps
Inward propelled, to sink and drift,
I turn transparent as I seem.
Just a flicker of life, as if from heaven
Vibrant hues in feathered verve.
Hopping solitary, a perching spirit
Spontaneity embodied, timid in a tree.
I lighten my steps as if not to frighten
The heaven-sent creature as I go by.
I fear to disturb such a peace
And yet he lifts his wings, fleeing.
I mourn to have lost the company.
But at least the company had felt me there.
This little life dared to lift his eyes.
He let me be seen, if only for a moment.
Now it is just me, among these living pillars,
The upward sprouting life, still surrounding mine.
Forever reaching toward the heavens,
And yet, in mercy shades my weary eyes.
I like to think they care for me,
That they hear my secrets, carry my tears.
Those age-old branches, standing still
Have seen my story, they hold it now.