Cradle

I have vacated the city madness of too many
people swarming like ants in a mad panic
to gather sustenance for another day
neither caring or aware of their impact

on those around them, crawling over others
helter skelter, elbows to eyeballs, ravaging
ripping gnawing, sucking the life's blood
of those less fortunate to feast, rest

then begin anew. I have returned to the comfort
of leafy boughs brushing my brow, stirred
by soft breezes whispering through forests
the only crunch that of dropped branches

beneath my feet as I traverse the hillsides
to songbird's serenades in search of laughing
brooks and flying fish, silver sailing
in sunlight lacing the quiet calm

illuminating greens, yellows and reds
texturing the calm carpet of these mountains
this is my food, my breath, my being
here is my sanity, never to be lost again