When I see a bug crawl across
my peripheral, I take a small piece of
paper, and I softly push its legs under.
What feels like miles to the
bug, I soar paper toward an exit, the nearest
window or door, and
I put the bug down and
watch it crawl.
I imagine the 70s, when road trips' tallied by dots of
dead bugs on the windshield was as common as
Amazon packages on front porches. Now, dead bugs
are a rarity as cross-country pelts are made of dirt and
Guns, the true Americana experience of the 21st century.
Before I let the bug go, I take a digital photo on
my cell phone, a document of the species,
my tourist attraction.

Whoseforest

flames hail,
so They wail
in Whoseforest.

the smog of it all,
has the system dull
in Whoseforest.

wails of help resound,
but are Their voices really found?

a peasant man’s dime too little,
a wealthy man’s dime too many.
                                 lackthereof
the kings lounge
as scorn rages
and rages
and rages
in Whoseforest.

the peasants beg,
“your majesty!
choking up
our lungs,
Their lungs,
Her lungs.
this tragedy
is one of ours
of yours
deploy a strategy
have you not?”

the kings sit
with the wealthy
sipping tea
eyes lit
with lax smiles.

but just like Them,
their voices go
unfound.

peasant, wealthy, royalty
all born and bred
of the same ancestry
brothers cry,
but brothers stray

They too,
both and bred
of their ancestry
but descendants soon
fall flat

mother nature now speaks,
“for we are all born and bred
of the same hearth
should it not be our earth
to love and share?”
She,too, wails
for Whoseforest.

so tell me now,
whose forest?

I just watched a news report:
Global numbers of insects are halving every 25 years
Bees Butterflies Moths and other species disappearing
which is a problem because
it kills Birds Reptiles Fish which live off the insects,
and insects pollinate 75% of crops which humans grow,
and 87% of all plant species on the planet need pollinating;
if insects die then flowering plants will die,
most plants will die.
Why are insects dying?
Farmers are blamed for using pesticides
but there may be other causes too.

I was left wondering:
Is there something we can do
to save insects and plants?

Sabi mo sa akin tumingala ako sa langit
At tingnan ang mga talang kaakit akit
Nang ako'y tumingin sa kalangitan
Ni isang ningning ay wala akong namataan
Nasan ang sinasabi mo?
Bakit ang labo mo?

Sabi sa isang dyaryong aking nadampot
Ang mundo'y puno na ng poot
Simoy ng hangi'y hindi na presko
Pagsasa walang bahala, eto ang epekto

Puro nalang kasi AKO AKO AKO
Wala manlang SILA SILA SILA
Paano na nga ba ang iba?
Parati nalang sila ang taya
Kelan ba sila makakalaya
Tila ang tadhana'y maramot at madaya

Mga walang kamalay malay
parati nalang nadadamay
sa mga bagay bagay na tayo ang may gawa
Tila hindi na nagsawa
Sa ilang ulit nang pagmamaka awa

Sila ang nagbigay,
bumuhay
and nagpalago
sa ating ekonomiyang nagduduwal ng daan daang salapi
at nagbibigay sa atin ng gatas na naiiwan pa sa ating mga labi

Tayo? Kelan kaya tayo makapagbibigay?
Kanilang pangangailangan
parati nalang "mamaya na yan"
Kung kelan huli na ang lahat
Kung kelan tayo na'y salat
Saka lang mapapansin
na malapit na tayong mag dildil ng asin

Hindi ba pwedeng baliktarin?
Baliktarin ang pamamaraan natin
Sila naman ang pagbigyan
Uhaw na sila sa kalayaan

Inside the drainage basin
Bounding my soul
Fluid dynamics
Condense

Phases of water
Gather in the
Mountain towers

Over time
Gravity plus precipitation
Converts
Into snow pack

Come spring
That snow pack
Braids it's way down the mountain
Co-mingling with groundwater
Bubbling up in springs
Gathering momentum
In mountain streams

A constant conversion from
Potential to kinematic
Energy

Streams make their
Way into prairie rivers
Meandering along
Through riparian pockets
Of biodiversity

Reaching a levee
Then breaching

Local, national, and international boundaries
Are no match

As my soul
Finds it's way to base level
In the ocean of your love