The Long Trail / Appalachian in Vermont: Little Rock Shelter, August 12th, 2014
Bliss was one of a lovely thru-hikers Debbie and I met at this shelter. She was very self-sufficient, happy, and calm. I envied her cooking pots and tent. I recently purchased one that resembles hers. She is an anthropologist who spends a good deal of time in nature, and who studies the trails that humans make, including the pilgrimage routes in Europe.
Here, on the appalachian trail
I am learning to speak
to sing in the language of birds
Who only acknowledge what is real.
-the dawn
-their prey
-a mate
-to herald nightfall
Birds name no thing
Yet their voice makes the land more
lovely –
Sounding again and again
“The Earth is Beautiful
The Earth is Beautiful”
Song wafting on the Spruce and Feathered air.