they're coming for us

i don't know what i would do if this
place did not exist.
if these majestic places disappeared...
my heart would crumble,
i'm sure of it. where would my home
be then?

waking up breathing this air is
intoxicating. it helps me to forget
the stiffness i feel from sleeping
on the ground. and the trouble
i'm having, trying to get on my feet.
my lungs are ten times as big as
they are in the city. and i can feel
how happy they are inhaling and expanding.

the clouds move in right over my head, i can touch
them, i swear. they dance on my fingertips then
roll between branches in silence. they are holding
water for the growth beneath them. everything is
looking up. they always seem different from this
angle, colors stand out, some are transparent. i
watch the storm pressure build them higher
& higher -up up up until their tops burst & they
look like tasty edible muffins.

our site was waiting for us. it's perfectly nestled
in the woods, good shelter for tent, small open
space for sun. the fire pit was already up, though
much had to be done to pick up their leftover
mess. it drops to the low 40's at night so the fire
is needed. i am the fire maker & i take pride in
my duties. the bugs didn't know we were coming
so they had little time to plan a welcoming party
with cake. we shared little conversation until
after the rains.

they've made a rifle range out of one of the
camping areas. there is no sign.
(oh, the letters to write, the people to call)
shells scatter the ground, along with the kindling.
its an odd space. high grass also fills this mid-size
meadow. there's a pile of dirt near a bunch of
trees standing alone, a little circle within one.
they bring more than rifles now. they are bringing
automatics. we heard them for hours one night.

i'd like to fire the shells into the sky until they turn
to dust. i think nola does too.

nola (one of our neighbors) has an old beautiful big
husky. she has a saddness about her. but she's a tough
womyn, tender hearted and aware. she shakes her head
while she explains the losses. trees, animals, silence.
though they (vermont) have kept the walmarts out,
developers loggers & the like still push until another
caves & profits. (she likes us. we are the good campers
who don't leave budweiser cans and other random shit
throughout the forest.) she's worried that sooner rather
than later these sanctuaries will be gone. these perfect
spaces. gone to greed & consumption. she is from the city.
she came here to escape it. to hear coyotes and crickets
at night instead of horns and sirens. like we have.
like we will continue to do.
with a tired look in her eyes she warns:

"they are coming for us."

i wish i could of told her that the good people are
coming to. we need and love this land.
we stand beside her.
fighting. fighting like hell.
without automatics.