Google Earth

I have lost
track
of the moon
waxing and waning
in me.

The sun
rises and sets
in the glare
of the computer
screen.

I cannot google
the pull
of the tides
or the circle
of the earth
from spring
to fall
and back
again.

I cannot walk
barefoot
on the embers
of a fire
with all
that is lost
to me
in the pixels
of this monitor.

I no longer
lie in an open
meadow
as a star
carrying
the dust
of other
planets
bursts
open
the night.

I google earth
and die.

Morning Light

I strike
a match.

Fire
catches me
stumbling
from the darkness
of warm slumber.

It is elemental.
It is basic.
It is magic.

My eyes stare
into ancient
memories.

Red twists orange
yellow licks
away the night
meat sizzles
water boils
sugar explodes
witches burn
on embers
from my hand.

I am caught
I am caught
I am caught
in every cell
of every body
burning.

All in one
morning.
All with one
match.

It is elemental.
It is basic.
It is magic
that bursts
from the remnant
of the sun
in a volcano
of molten lava
rising from the
magma of the earth
this fire
shapes
the ground
I walk.

All in one
morning.
All with one
match.

Soundtrack

One two three
four five six
a hammer cuts
through
the early morning
in one two three
four five six
rests
one two three
four five six
the nail
is driven

"What is he building?"
I wonder
as I split
through the ferns
turning golden
and search
for a trail
to follow.

One two three
four five six
noise takes
my thoughts
One two three
four five six
in the quiet
morning
the geese honk.

I stand
in a thicket
of red alder
click click click
one bird rustles the leaves
click click click
chip chip chip
two birds
then three
white-throated sparrows
stop
to feed
in this swamp
click click click
chip chip chip
tic tic tic.

And then the commerce begins.
Cars and trucks on the roads
people going to work
swish swish whoosh whoosh
sputter clank bang
gears change on the hill
morning has broken
the soundtrack
wails.

There is no place
in the continental
United States
that is more
than twenty-one miles
from a road.
swish swish whoosh whoosh
sputter clank bang.

Sound travels
to a pile of feathers
where a creature
has feasted
A wood chipper
a leaf blower
a lawn mower
a siren
that won't quit
whirr whirr whirr
grr grr grr
whirr whirr whirr
"How loud is this noise,"
I wonder
"on the ears
of the forest?"

Whirr whirr whirr
the leaf blower rings
drone drone drone
a plane flies
low over the waters
filled with fall colors
whirr whirr whirr
drone drone drone
a chainsaw chimes in
ayi ayi ayi
in triplets agian
the engine grinds
on the drums
of my ears
three wood ducks
pick their way
through the light
the symphony rages
whirr whirr whirr
a duck quacks
the airplane drone dies
whirr whirr whirr
keeps keeping on.

Otter scat
blocks a deer path
the chainsaw stops
whirr whirr whirr
the leaf blower
groans on.

How loud
is this noise
on the ears
of these woods?

A beaver's hearing
is seven times
more sensitve
than mine.

A coyote
locates
its pack
by sound.

Birds mark
their territory
with song.

whirr whirr whirr
the leaf blower
drones on
the lawn mower
the wood chipper
the chainsaw
beep beep beep
a big truck backs up
beep beep beep
rouses me in my dreams
whirr whirr whirr
the triplets go on
drone groan
whirr
one two three
four five six
beep beep beep.