Once, the wild forest
Treaded beneath,
Its vestigial remains laid under my feet,
In pockets of youth that grew out of the ashes.

Once, the wild forest –
I dreamt of it, sleepwalking, moontalking,
I dreamt of walking down that forest floor,
down mountain slopes and crowded ravines,
and curving around the canopy as the birds do.

Oh, the wild forest,
How you sleep and slumber,
How you call to me with all your moss and your green.
Your spiders spinning webs, the old sequoia tree
Who has seen more than I will in a thousand lives.

Once, the wild forest,
Treaded beneath my feet.
How that ancient spirit slumbers,
How the forest sleeps.