Dark mind and paranoia sat upon my house, so I left
Dogs and all, and we took to the bush

Up Mill Creek the news was 24/7, relentless
Spring cannot be stopped, whip the Mother though they may

I can’t claim ‘we’ at the moment, though I know, I know
There is no abdication from this human race

Loathsome though it is to stand with drug pushers, for instance
There is likely prozac, ritalin and statin poison in this very stream

The hounds romp through with merry commitment, I more slowly
Divest myself of anger at the Mongers among us - War and Drug and Fear

Images from Ukraine and the actor’s ex who pooped in his bed
Masked children being raised songless, souls castrati

This is the moment it could all shatter

But someone has cut a chunk from a bracket fungus
Not the kind I know about, but perhaps medicine for them

And someone has stacked a bit of wild wood into a shelter
And the park is thick with dogs on the romp off-leash

Tea brown water steeps my feet, sun pulls on the buds
Ducks glide by, making the best of things

From somewhere, woodpecker drum, heartwood thrum.