Where The Wild Was

A band of houses stand
where woods once were,
where the trail opened up
and the tightened world –
tree branch, obscured –
led us towards swamp
and marsh and river and rock,
where every leap of deer
forced us to pause, to ponder
the impermanence of a roam,
the pace of progress
pushing against the impulse
to explore the wild – it’s us, alone –
for all paths embarked upon
lead us all, eventually,
towards home