How Things Feel

Night riding 

When you are spinning down
a curving road
on a moonless night
and can't see
the margins of things. 
Just the whiz of tires
reminds you
where you are
and the whish-whish-whish of trees
as you fly past them.

Fog hiking

When rocks and bushes
loom up like furniture
in a dark room 
and you know,
without a shadow of a doubt,
that if you take a wrong turn,
you will be lost in this miasmic haze for centuries
and only crows
will know where to find you
in the mountains.

Being dead dog tired 

 
When you measure distances
by the reach of a leg or a small piece
of earth.  When you say,
"Oh ground,
if you will let me cross you,
I swear I will sing praises
to your intractableness
and everything about
you--I swear to God--if you let me get there
I will lie prostrate on top of
you and say prayers to trees
and roots for a really long time."