Bear Cubs Quietly Sit

Bear cubs quietly sit in the stream, water tumbles out of the mountains, scattering sunlight as it goes, coyotes howl behind the trees on the ridge, bull snake moves soundlessly into the brush, owl stares down silently from overhead, then the air resounds with thunder claps, and the sun shining from the mountaintop becomes obscured by a veil of rain moving up the valley, I’m in the cottonwoods, I’m in a wild, walking a wild path, observing, listening, watching the sky, it’s where I want to be, where I want to stay, I feel the life here, I feel the life in me, it’s where I don’t feel afraid, here, where every year, new leaves grow green and every year, leaves turn color and fall, a cycle that continues, no matter who or what moves beneath, long before I was and long after I’m not, the cycle has been, will continue on, and the thought of that leaves me feeling I don’t need to be afraid