These old woods 
are a thick wildness
the many mysteries 
of all its dangerous parts 
pulling together
where the strong beams 
of nature’s fine architecture 
are easily revealed
life is tied together at the roots, 
beating as one heart, 
the quick pulse of an old forest

What mysteries unfold 
in the rich depths of the dark woods
where the stones fall down 
the hillside like a staircase 
inviting the all too curious hiker 
upward and deeper in
birds, bugs, and life 
in its chaotic kinetic fire-rich pulse 
sings its living song
stand still, hold your breath, listen, 
you can hear the movement of the still places 
in between the shadows and undergrowth 
holding all those trees up 
tying them down with roots

When the creek bed is dry, 
each stone a stair step 
up, up, up, 
into the wildness
where the tumble of creek rocks 
roll down the hillside
shadows and the cool part of the day 
tucked in between the trees
sunlight is a prism, 
the leaves cutting it into manageable slices

Thick, rich, undergrowth 
to hold up the heights 
of all those tall tress 
the strong roots to bind them
this is the architecture of nature
sunlight reaches through the leaves
the woods grows wild here