sunlit trail
the Brownian motion
in a cloud of gnats
still under the spell
of hermit thrush song
spraying DEET
under the oaks
shadows dancing
in silence
pine needle seat
I pound my chest to kill
a mosquito
well-trodden moss
another bear-flipped rock
back in its bed
ridgetop wind
old white pines creaking
from the roots
red oak seedling
among lowbush blueberries
my blue fingers
daytime moth
its small white field
of boulders
chestnut sprouts
encircling their dead elder
so bright a green
visiting with
a favorite old sweet birch
i bring my own tea
golden spindels
my phone enters low
power mode
all this silica
could still be mined out
someone else whispers
greenbriar
leaning into the trail
I pass on the left
no ‘Indian Wells’
this unencumbered view
of the sky
ferns doing fern things
my footsteps receding
into the distance
30 July 2026
I like the photos with the descriptive poems. A hike in the woods complete with gnats. I talk to the bugs, we have an agreement, they stay out of my way and I leave them alone. It works!