Returning from the Grocery Store, I Find Hope
On my way home from the grocery store, the four-storey mansion
that seems to have lost itself in a Kentucky suburb
while searching for a way back to its fairy tale demands
my attention, but I ignore its flowing fountain and trimmed hedges, gazing
instead at unadulterated forest, maples burnished sunset-
gold as far as horizon will allow
me to see. I imagine I am a prehistoric falcon
surveying these pristine woods before the trees
surrendered to choked highways, cracked parking lots, and overpriced
grocery stores. In this lonesome copse, we have not mined
the “wild” from wilderness. Neither axe nor plow has defiled
this land. Here, nature is as it once was, how it may be again
if we stop basking in the glory of our own creation and rediscover
the grandeur of woodlands sandwiched between suburbs.
As long as forests that seem to stretch into forever
sprout on our roadsides,
there is still hope.
8 thoughts on "Returning from the Grocery Store, I Find Hope"
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Thanks for the message of hope! I needed that. When I moved to the country many decades ago, we needed four wheel drive to get back into our wild, but soon the road got paved, then the power lines came in, etc. I love this line –
In this lonesome copse, we have not mined
the “wild” from wilderness.
You’re more than welcome; I’m glad to have offered you even a glimmer of hope! Ah, the double-edged sword of progress. I hope you still have somewhere you can take refuge from modern civilization. Thank you, I liked that one too! 🙂
This is a wonderful commentary, Katrina. I especially like the irony of “the glory of our own creation” in the context of your description – choked highways, cracked parking lots, and overpriced grocery stores.
Thank you very much! I often enjoy writing about the contrast between nature and human civilization.
“In this lonesome copse, we have not mined/ the “wild” from wilderness” and “if we stop basking in the glory of our own creation” deserve some exclamation points — they’re absolutely lovely!! And the last stanza is what I always think when I’m driving down long stretches of highways: if my mind can still get lost in trees, we have not lost the trees yet.
Thank you so much for the exclamation points! 🙂 Yes, I’m glad you feel the same! It’s always a blessing to find wilderness in civilization.
Wonderful, flowing, meaningful. Love it.
Thank you so much!