Even Wolves Learn to Dread - Nov 26 2023

 

Even Wolves Learn to Dread

Nov 26 2023

If on my walks

the woods seem strangely lifeless,

   —  as if the rabbits

had retreated to their lairs,

foxes

made themselves scarce,

deer

hunkered down quietly  —

it must be the dogs.

Frisky, and incautious

they tear through the underbrush

like little kids

let out to play,

released from their nap

at the Tiny Tots nursery

Budding Blossom preschool.

No quiet introspection

or contemplating nature

with companions like this;

domestic animals

and the human master

even wolves learn to dread.

So I have no way of knowing

the state of the world.

Like Heisenberg

observing subatomic particles,

the instrument itself

interferes with their behaviour;

just as we intrude,

stomping through the woods

barking at shadows

stepping inattentively.

Even the love of dogs

and their companionship

cannot make up for what we miss.

For what Thoreau valued most.

Sitting patiently

in his Concord forest

all by himself,

quietly observing

and putting into words

exactly what he saw.

  

The solitude, and simplicity

we need.

The world

as it should be seen.