I had not listened to the forest for weeks
too busy stuffing myself with the wild blackberries
that suddenly sprouted everywhere along the path
finally realizing that i could not eat them all
new patches sprouting up overnight
i decided to go cold turkey--no more berries for me
i was afraid that it would be too difficult
too hard to walk past a perfect, ripe blackberry
without pausing just a moment to coax it from the vine
popping its sweet, juicy roundness into my mouth
but after all i walked past them easily, lightly
thou shalt tempt me no more
and instead of stumbling out into the hot bowl
of the lower trail, sweating, and covered
with scratches, berry juice, webs, and spiders
i emerged from the encircling thicket free, reborn
unhurried, able to stop and look about me
at hovering dragonflies and swooping starlings
i watched two eagles rising higher and higher
corkscrewing effortlessly on the updraft of air
over the sun-heated pavement of the freeway
then, with a slight twist of their wingtips,
slipping from their towering castles of air
and sliding swiftly down the brilliant sky