Spend a while in the forest, and it is easy to forget

about open sky

and open water 

Walk on the shore a while

and it is easy to taste with a tongue accustomed to a life of salt and fish 

To feel your fingers and toes reaching for one another

more like seal paw or bird foot 

than human hand

And feel your body lean into the lines of shore bird 

bobbing on the water

Some day, Today

Pull a canoe to the place of still water

To the land of cattails and willow

where blackbirds cry their sovereignty 

and starlings hold court

Watch ducks run from your bigness and your voices 

Skipping over the water like stones until they take flight

(No room for Jenny Green Teeth here- it is too peaceful. But perhaps there are fairy folk with legs like frogs who tend their muddy gardens quietly)

Push water weeds with your paddle because you don’t know all their secrets

But, wink at the lily pads just right, and they will giggle and tell you all  about their summer blossoms

Get lost, just for a moment, in the maze of it all

And make your spirit’s ablutions 

with the taste of apple and ginger still hot on your tongue