hoping to see wild cousins
the odds are way against us
in our hopes for our human world
to intersect with our wild cousins,
the best we can do is reach for pattern
and put ourself where they have been,
and could well be again,
or just be lucky,
the mountain sheep weren’t on the high slopes
along the Yellowstone River yesterday,
despite how often we have found them there,
the moose and bear this morning haven’t moved up the creek
by where we are staying,
a wolf, though, did appear to those in one of our cars,
all quick and off on a midday errand,
opportunity met preparation and observation,
the next day we go to the Beartooth,
a 10,000 foot plateau, above treeline,
half the times we’ve been up there,
mountains goats have claimed the high land,
enough grass and safety to have their kids around,
none there today,
I guess our being here a month later
than usual makes a difference,
we humans don’t like to lose,
so we hedge our bets with zoos,
we can then lose the joy of an unexpected win.
by Henry H. Walker
August 1, ‘21
No comments:
Post a Comment