Wild

I took a friend up to the hills that we all know and love
To show her vistas far and wide and peace from high above.
My good friend was a city girl who seldom left the smoke
And somehow took me by surprise when she turned to me and spoke:

She bade me promise I would watch these hills on her behalf,
And pay good heed to clumsy deeds which threaten nature’s path.
“The countryside needs guardians, who care about the land
To keep a home for creatures who live wild and need a hand,
We’re quick to take their homes and once we build they will be gone
And we’ll forget, but soon regret the passing of their song.”

Wait

One pulled out an iPhone,
showed photos to Another-
a car, a cat, a garden gnome:
no consequence to Either.

Other talked incessantly
whilst staring straight ahead,
Not even feigning interest
in anything One said.

Two talked with animation,
their voices harsh and shrill,
No pause for contemplation,
they had a void to fill.

The muzak wraps around us
and the colours pin our eyes,
and we’ve almost lost our bearings
in a sea of empty lies.

But halfway through an outburst,
Partway through a word,
Quietly, in the cosmos
Something waits there, to be heard…

The Inside

I have done a lot of thinking

about the inside of things.

.

Today I built a dome

one foot square

and solid snow.

.

Inside were the animals

I would have made

if the snow didn’t

get stuck on my gloves

and crumble in my hands.

.

 a moose

and a mole

.

The moose had long, strong legs

and an intelligent, wet nose.

He put his head down

into the snow

and nuzzled

until he found a piece of green,

then chewed thoughtfully

whilst contemplating the upstairs window.

He seemed surprised

that humans

have such long legs

they need windows that high up.

.

The mole poked his snowy bonce

out of the tired ground

and peered with blind eyes

upon the bright sky.

I think he was glad

I would have made him.

.

I have thought a lot

about the inside of things.