While on one of my long walks
that are a weekly
compulsion
to seek refuge from
and purge the buzz
of my daily bouts
with civilization
I found myself wading deep
through the shadowed
remains
of a dense climax
forest
spared from ax and
plow
by virtue of its
steep and rocky terrain
As I climbed over a strewn
of fallen stumps
and decay
I noticed the inconsistency
of a couple of yards
of hairy pelt
matted and scraped
and stained
like a cryptic map
And while I stood there, curious
trying to decipher
that dark map
I was startled when
it heaved
revealing the labored
breathing
of the large animal
it covered
Cautiously I pulled back the debris
from over this fallen
monster
wedged so tightly
between great logs
that it had long
since ceased to struggle
I uncovered a huge head and short horn
with one sad pool
of eye
on this side of his
head
pleading for help
but also
seeming to know it
was too late
He made no sound but that long slow breathing
and my astonishment
subsided
enough that I finally
recognized
his form -- Bison
-- he was
out of time and place,
a buffalo
hopelessly trapped
in this pocket of lost forest
What could I do to ease his suffering?
I dripped water from
my canteen
at his mouth, which
opened enough
that his huge grey-pink
tongue
could receive it,
though not much
before he closed
it again
The one, so nearly human, eye that I could
see
seemed to show appreciation
it blinked slowly
then closed
as if in resignation
to its plight
knowing that I was
too small to release him.
I found that I was exhausted
from this tragic
encounter and
moreover could not
just leave him
while he still drew
breath
so I lay down nearby
and soon fell asleep
I awoke lying in deep grass
with a pervading
sense of warmth
and satiation, lazing
calmly
On hearing a rustle I turned to see
that same dark eye
from its standing hulk
looking at me with
recognition
giving the reassurance
of acceptance
of a tireless sultry
summer day
Suddenly his ears twitched and
he picked up his
head and snorted
I felt it too, something
in the air
I stood up to discover
that I was
in a sea of grass
and bison
A wave of excitement and fear swept us
in the distance I
heard a rumble
we all started milling
around
walking first this
way then that
a cloud of dust grew
on the horizon
Most of us started trotting in that direction
the rumbling grew
louder
I was surrounded
by sweating hairy flanks
just one of thousands,
compulsive
I lost control over
my own direction
The rumble became a roar
the dust cloud was
upon us
we turned hard to
the right
and we ran - full
out
Pounding hoof, pounding heart
breathing dust and
ferimone
racing shoulder to
flank
nose to tail, one
mammoth organism
crashing over the
plain
Such freedom, such power
to be mindlessly
part of this
great tribe, all
pervasive, undaunted
*
* * * *
* *
Then I saw the horror, unspeakable
I could not communicate
or warn
and they started
falling all around me
In our midst was a string of
railroad cars each
surmounted
by marksmen with
their long rifles
their temper belied
by puffs
of smoke from their
breaches
And it all mixed together in hysteria
the thundering hooves,
the screaming locomotive
the volley of explosions
the whooping of the
"sportsmen"
the bellowing of
death crashing under hoof
I stumbled over fallen bodies
in the stench and
madness
I tumbled, over and
over
through an endless
darkness
I squirmed and twisted
I sat bolt upright, wrenched from my dream
that horrid noise
still ringing in my ear
I shivered in the
first light
as my breathing finally
slowed
and my emotions returned
from frantic
As the morning grew lighter
I dared to crawl
over to where he had been
Bones! long
disincarnated bones
mostly decayed but
still recognizable
with the hole in
that huge skull
staring straight
into my soul
I wandered dazed from those woods
unable later to retrace
nor find that place
yet to this day
there is a dark sad
eye that follows me
staring back from
my mirror and my dreams
I find that I no longer take well to crowds
but would rather
sit and watch
the shadow-play of
clouds over the plains
imagining the disappearance
of all fences and
roadways....
