THE SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST

southern illinois...
mystical, awe inspiring, humid,
sometimes dangerous, but always inviting,
your dark forest...
beckons to me still.
rugged trails,
pre-civil war carvings in rock,
stone markers strewn alongside paths,
dates...messages of those long dead,
grave sites,
wild life,
vivid colors of flowers,
breathtaking rock formations,
the dried up missouri river bed,
of little grand canyon...
its mineral deposits, in the winter,
in psychedelic, eye-shocking color,
make me lose myself...
ego gone forever, it seems...
always i can lose myself.
in your splendor,
for all four seasons,
walking for miles,
in early morning,
so quiet,
always,
rains welcomed...
to cool me
on hot-summer days.
gorgeous leaves for me to trample,
seems a sin,
in the fall.
stark whites,
and icicles,
of great length,
and the greatest silence,
in the winter.
i see you great forest,
as i saw you,
in my youth.
you remain the same...
beautiful in your majesty.
you are timeless.
you are always.
i forget the world,
when you hold me to your breast,
sweet mother, forest.
take me back,
to my youthful idealism,
my southern illinois...
land of dreams and aspirations...
forger of my ideals...
you guarantee my hopes,
for you remain pristine,
my shawnee, national forest.