away from park rangers
and the tourist lens
where the thicket
grows most jumbled
and the path forward
an undecipherable maze
your candor a promise
and a threat
no impulse to camouflage
perhaps only the vulnerable
will make it
in the post-Darwin Era
in this lackluster twilight of the spirit
shy of performance
and stage lights
waving no flags
issuing no statements
but an inaudible murmur
of existing with the brink
nevertheless.
Pina Piccolo, 20 July 2024
Cover image: Erin Braaten, Dancing Aspens Photography