Softer Ground

A poem about slowing down

 

Softer Ground


Fluorescent nylon and magnesium alloy
Muscling through the forest.
Ergonometric engines of entertainment,
Filled with themselves,
Flashing through the forest —
Visored eyes looking good
but seeing nothing.
Sprockets and gear changers,
Recombinant for every speed but slow,
Hurl their boisterous presence

Into my attention.

I step aside and let them pass —
Freely yield the hardened path.
Sidelined in the softer ground, I stand
Content to let them speed ahead
Through their playground.
Their high tech nature trek
Will cover more ground than I today,
But still, I walk on through creation
Content to face the challenge
Of walking slowly in the softer ground.

—Tom Oster