let’s pretend to be savage again
with wild temperature swings
and hundred-year floods
tooth and claw rentable by the hour
let’s pretend to be real
authentic and shelf-stable
as if today’s sunrise
were the same as yesterday’s
let’s pretend to believe again
bust out our green flags
follow along in spring’s hymnal
loving the absurd turns inward and out
let’s pretend love and hate are opposites
tell it to the stranger in the mirror
and wipe that knowing smirk
off our misinformed face
let’s pretend we’re wild again
nobody’s monitoring our movements
rounding us up for captive breeding
replacing our habitat with a new convenience store
let’s pretend there’s time still
for every purpose
find timelessness between the trees
who stand for everything