The stony slope was mocking
and pitiless.
The chirping greens
and browns below
could not fathom my
lifeless, grey choice.
The high-pitched scree
erased my progress.
The frenzied beat
of my thoughts
out-of-sync with my body.
Fling a boot forward,
gasp. swear. shriek.
shift my weight
this is what I deserve
plant and push
cry. grunt. SCREAM.
swing the other leg,
fuck it all
slide back oh so close to where I started.
But not quite.
Eventually,
the ground leveled and cleared,
and quieted,
and began to descend
the other side of the mountain,
and I found
the peculiar beauty of discord
is when it stops.
At the entrance to a wood, I stood
in the silence between the songs.
********************
Distant falsettos and bass lines,
scattered drum-taps,
gather and gurgle on the wind,
unhurried,
congealing into chorus;
the rain begins its hiss-patter percussion
on the leaves overhead.
My breath escapes, is replaced; I kneel
to put the cover on my pack,
a crinkled blue forcefield,
and I walk;
a hushed football
on the mossy undergrowth
of a dampening forest.
“Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves,” wrote John Muir in Our National Parks. Clearly, John Muir understood the intrinsic value of spending time in nature.
ReplyDeleteAlong with Muir, many of us recognize that hiking in nature is good for the body, mind, and soul. Walking through the woods while observing colorful birds and foliage, smelling the aroma of spruce and pine trees, and listening to a soothing running stream simply clear our mind and make us feel good. Lucky for us, doctors agree. Study after study shows there are many mental health benefits to spending time hiking in nature.