nature is open, are we?

Nature Deficit Disorder

we are an increasingly urban society,

following the herd, the jobs, high culture, the possibilities,

inertia,

we are an increasingly anxious society,

helicoptering our kids with rules, restrictions,

while also allowing them the siren call of the screen,

today I took two middle school classes

just outside our building,

we sat near a small creek with a forest slipping toward us,

bird calls louder than nearby voices and working tools,

it was hard for the kids to close their eyes,

and to open themselves so that 

sounds, smells, tastes, feelings,

could work upon them, 

to let leaves and bugs and birds

have their way with them,

some students wrote of waking up,

of seeing and feeling a different world come at them,

one student wrote of being freed from the stress

of performance, of judgment, of having to talk to others,

nature is open, and we can receive.

by Henry H. Walker

September 21, ‘18