PATHFINDER

PATHFINDER

Clothed in the rainbow scales of morning
I make sure the paths are kept open
that no errant weeds have choked the pathways
during the night, claiming dominion over my paths.
You see, it is everything for me
to keep these paths of men
and the paths of deer, or even mice, open.
It is my job to help them remember the way
because more than one darkness comes
and the forests and fields eagerly
swallow all traces of trails.
But the soles of the feet remember.
I can hear them coming through the tall grass
like a cipher writing out lost history.
See how they bend in the savanna winds?
So many have already walked
until their souls bled in the snow.

5/31/1985 (in my journal as 6/85)
CPITS with Susan Kennedy & Mike Tuggle

Clothed in rainbow scales
shimmering in the morning air,
I make sure the paths are kept open.
That no errant weeds
have choked the pathways during the night

They have claimed dominion
over my paths, and my trails.
You see, it is everything to me
to keep these paths of man,
the paths of deer, of mice in the  snow, open.

It is my job to help them remember the way
because more than one darkness
comes to the forests and fields
and they will swallow all trace of it
and it will be as if it never was.
The soles of the feet remember.

I can hear them coming through the tall grass
like a cipher waiting to open history.
See how they bend in the savanna winds?

6/85 with Susan Kennedy