Wood Nymph’s Antidote

By Michael Chacko Daniels

No memory of harmony prevails, he thinks.

Now, yonder, a black hawk floats

against a naked sky above him on the Dipsea Trail,

then inscribes a heavenly swerve.

More comfortable with concrete under shoes

on the way to Madison and Main Street,

a prison of memory and public hype block his observation.

He gazes out to sea from the North Bay headlands once more.

The earth is still moist and loamy from last week’s rains.

All around: nature’s unfamiliar signs and signals.

A stranger reaches up, strokes a cone;

her long, gentle fingers quieten his soul.

The cone’s three prongs, she explains,

spell Douglas and proclaim its difference from other firs.

He rises on tiptoe to observe this unique plant signature,

while readying to offer in protective, matter-of-fact tones:

Learn something new everyday!

The wood nymph persists, introducing other life on the trail,

displacing the big city whirling in his thoughts,

and he learns how a Huckleberry stands on the ground.

Also California Bay and Sword Fern.

Her moments with him done, a flicker in time, she glides on.

He raises his eyes to watch the lone hawk circle under the big blue.

He begins to rewind an ancient cry.

Yet, feet rooted with Douglas, Huckleberry, California Bay, and Sword Fern,

feeling the sky filling his eyes, the hawk tearing at his heart,

all previous thoughts fade for this unrepeatable moment, this singular antidote.

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Michael Chacko Daniels (Master’s, Journalism, Northwestern University) is a former community worker and clown who grew up in India. Books: Split in Two (2004), Anything Out of Place Is Dirt (2004), That Damn Romantic Fool (2005). Website:  http://indiawritingstation.com/community-service-calls/