NATURE Poem: Big Country, by Shelley Jinks Johnson

“In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover’s voice ‘cross a mountain side.
Stay alive.”
-Big Country

In a big country you can lose
yourself. As easily as in a crowded
cityscape sidewalk. Elbowing
your way through Douglas firs
or pine trees taller than any main street
building and loan company
yet still dwarfed by the Redwoods
of ancient America. I could run
from myself only to collide with
my recalcitrant parts in an alley
of thickest brush, dirt pavement, fox hole.
Crawl inside. Hide. Emerge new, in flight
undaunted by cruelties of the world.
Turn my face, knowing suffering
never ends, though mine is now
a fable for the ages.

Author: poetryfest

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