All in the Mind
Pretend you don’t know that more than two miles
of trails are tightly wound within just one hundred acres,
a jewel of sorts within this not-so-urban city, the capital
of a mid-West state, that the sight of deer
or turkey crossing your path, is not unusual,
or that a hundred feet are all that separate a savanna
from a hillside populated with hundreds-year-old oak trees
on one side or bottom land growth on the other.
Feel daily morning walkers on manicured trails
brush past you at a calorie-burning pace,
eyes straight ahead, unaware –
or perhaps long-forgotten to them –
that each area is managed to demonstrate
the various habitats and the bio-diversity found,
and in many cases disappearing, within their state.
Be thankful for the butterfly on milkweed,
the turtles sunning themselves on the pond’s shore,
the snake climbing within a lightning-hollowed oak,
the texture of that oak’s weathered bark,
or the coyote peering from tall grass, all waiting
for your camera to capture their subtle beauty.
Find the words to describe all of this.
This poem is my response to earthweal weekly challenge: WILD MIND,
where Brendan asks us,
“How does green fire take root in the thought of our poems?”
I’ve written about the Runge Conservation Nature Center (Jefferson City, Missouri)
in blog and poetry before. Here is one with photos.
Shared with Open Link LIVE — February Edition at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
rivrvlogr 
Many people pass through the day without seeing any of it. I love your last stanza, down to the coyote who is being slaughtered mercilessly with no limits. Good thing they are resilient and will probably outlast man. Sometimes words fail us but you’ve proven otherwise.
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Thank you. It’s ironic that the purpose of the park is to remind people of what they have, but some just don’t see it. School buses come here, usually with grade school children (there’s an interpretive center in addition to the trails), so that’s a good thing.
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I really enjoyed your poem. You capture these times and the little bits of wildness left for those with open hearts and eyes. The way you describe those fitness walkers is great. They dominate the walks around here too. It’s good to think of them as unseeing. They carry on like the own the world.
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Thank you, Suzanne.
Unless it’s someone I recognized who has talked with me in the past about what I’m photographing, I’ve limited myself to a simple nod since most don’t even acknowledge that.
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I know the feeling 🙂
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I think you found the words beautifully, especially your closing stanza. I walked through a forest we are trying to save this morning, as encroachment marches steadily on, omniverous. When does it end? Will it ever? Where will the wild ones go when there is no green left?
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Thank you.
I agree. Demonstration parks are not enough.
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Words alone cannot capture it all! But your selection draws me into the scene/mood. What sort of snake is that?
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Thank you. 🙂
That is a Western Ratsnake (or Black Snake) and it can grow to 6 feet in length. There’s another one that I’ve seen a quarter mile away.
This one seems to favor that tree. Another time, I held my camera down into the base of the trunk to where the snake had tucked itself into a corner. (I had to lighten this photo to bring out detail.)
https://education.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/western-ratsnake
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I really connect with the walkers passing without seeing. So sad.
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Yet so true. Thank you, John.
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It seems a beautiful place, and it’s sad that so many are unaware, or don’t care.
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It is a nice place, and I’ve had some nice conversations with people, but there are those who are always looking straight ahead and would miss a deer or a flock of turkeys 10 feet off the trail.
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I see them when I go walking here, too. I’m walk for fitness AND to see and enjoy nature. 😀
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It amazes me too that so many never actually look at the world around them. (K)
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I’ve probably walked those trails a hundred times since I moved here 10 years ago, but depending on the weather, the season, the lighting, or even the timing to be there when monarch caterpillars are devouring milkweed, I’ll take duplicate photos because of those changing conditions.
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There is always something new to see, no matter how many times you’ve been somewhere.
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There’s something about a trail, evocative reading.
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Thanks, Paul.
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you sure found the poetic words to describe the beauty and those immune to it!
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Thank you. I think I’ll focus on the beauty. 😉
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You did find the words here …. Walking with a wild mind (or for it) is not resource management (power-walking for benefit without taking notice of all the wild nourishment everywhere) but training the mind to act like the world. You are fortunate such meandering trails exist where you live, though really they are anywhere we declare them. My walk to the lake in this town and back through older suburban neighborhoods is a forest when I surrender to it.
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Thank you, Brendan. “training the mind to act like the world,” should foster an understanding of the ills of the world and acting to address them.
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Another great poem, that captures what your keen eye sees. I am constantly amazed at how unseeing so many people are, even in the midst of natural richness.
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Thank you. The moment holds everything around us. Experience it.
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Yes indeed!
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All that mars your picture is the human element. I can’t imagine ‘wild’ with people in it. Especially not your walkers who see nothing but the price tags on their sports gear.
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Fortunately, the paths are not overpopulated with people. This being the state capital, it likes to think of itself as a big city. If it were, I’m sure there would be a lot more people. Fortunately, it’s not.
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I hope it stays that way 🙂
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I like the detail in this , Ken, and the atmosphere you create.Makes me want to pay a visit!
JIM
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Thanks, Jim. It’s a nice place. Winter offers some nice photo opportunities – and no ticks!
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This sounds like an oasis of wildness, Ken! Beautifully captured.
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Thank you, Ingrid.
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Indeed, you have found the words in an expansive view of a small area reaching to much much more. Thank you for keeping the camera ready!
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🙂 Camera always in hand! Thank you.
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Lovely. It takes presence to be this present – both to the trail and to the poem. Thank you for sharing it.
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Thank you for coming along.
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I appreciate the way in which you invite us readers to observe the world around us. I could not help but also imagine while reading not just the real world, but also the way the biomes are generated in minecraft.
The ending stanza flashes some beautiful imagery too!
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So much to see. Thank you.
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This is incredibly gorgeous writing, Ken! I especially love; “Be thankful for the butterfly on milkweed, the turtles sunning themselves on the pond’s shore.” Yes! ❤️❤️
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For those willing to open their eyes, there is so much to appreciate. Thank you, Sanaa.
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Within your description lies important messages…reminds me of a French philosopher who said people travel today to count the miles…the greater the distance, the better…really?
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Thank you, Ain. In my lifetime, I’ve driven more than a half- million miles. I’d rather walk ten, and appreciate what each one has to offer.
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Beautiful lines ❤ ❤
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Thank you.
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There is so much beauty, thanks for sharing! 👏👏
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It’s all there for those willing to see. Thank you, Tricia.
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I think it needs to be described (and you did it well, especially in the last stanza) but I wonder if the same people rushing through will understand it…
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True. They have to recognize it. Thank you, Björn.
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