photo by Elizabeth McCarthy
by Elizabeth McCarthy
like children lost in the dark forest
we who are old wander an unfamiliar path
where nature leaves her clues
for us to doubt and wonder
if we ever knew reality
now that light is fading
and shadows cloak us in chill
when earth places before us
a witches broom and fairy ring
shall we join the dancing spirits
and play upon the myth,
vanish to the otherworld
where life and time suspends
or wait and watch the poison mushrooms die
as possessed twigs and branches break and fly
[Elizabeth McCarthy lives in Walden.]
