FOREST BATHING

Saturday, April 13th, 2025

Durban, South Africa

From my upcoming new book, The Walking Monk Poems .2:

FOREST BATHING

You may enter with a dirty mind

Lost in spirit perhaps to another time

By the end of the stretch

You feel less of a wretch

In undertaking that forest bath

Down a soft green path

Well, it may not be green

But a multicolour scheme

Black/white, not out of the question

A wooded, wintry nature’s bastion

Hear rounds of owl, squirrel, blue jay

A host of critters with something to say

The nostrils are freshly aroused

By the welcoming smells as you browse

Those trees/plants are fragrant donors

Leaves of the fall give bitter edge aromas

This very air is meant for you

And the diverse company is so too

The stroll could last as long as desired

Till legs may grow somewhat tired

Consider then the tiniest rest

Before the next urge, the charge, the breath

By a stump, a spot that’s dry

Surprise at the sight of a dragonfly

In the bush you are never alone

Even if there lie remains – a moose bone

Evidence that some entity lurked there

And that some creature will eventually dare

You are always in the moment

A piece of nature’s time, hold it

Better than all those city lights

The silver screen of human fights

The forest holds motherly treats

And freely throws fatherly seeds

In the comfort of a forest atmosphere

There is so little to fear

Be a trite more aware in the dark

Remember your best friends are in bark

And when you decide to exit out

You feel an absolute cleanse all about

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!

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