What a lovely day of doing nothing important in celebration of my birthday. Here is a poem written after hiking the Athens Park trail, sitting in the shelter listening to the river. Photo is from AthensWisconsin.com because my camera/phone battery was dead. Enjoy the poem and your life of unimportance.
Athens Park Trail Hike and River Talk
Boots clunking
on wet leaves
forest of hemlock
and naked stems
red oak, maple
corralled by Black Creek,
a chatty creek
alto voice
telling the same stories
gurgling over rocks
louder than rain drips
off needle tips
and sullen littered leaves.
Day of calm
droning brook
white sky
smell of sodden earth
opening to the moist chill,
a chill that settles
into my body-water.
I am the creek too
telling my story
moving yet going nowhere better
a fine life of unimportance
on a day of no goals.
This is the dream life
same, simple,
stretched out
between invisible sky
and molten earth
moving but going nowhere better
because here is where
I am born, live, and die.
Here is where
I babble over rocks
and move in unison with the seasons
in all my ages.
