Wading in the Muck of His Anxieties

Hear the buzzing flies
Feel the solar heat
     squint from the harsh brightness of its gaze
Smell the rich, wet, fertile mud
Hear it squishing beneath the soles of boots
Feel the suction as each foot lifts
     for another step
     Resistant impedance to speed

See dragonflies inspecting this
     Intrepid explorer
Frogs leaping sideways
     as he prepares to pass

See swaying reeds
     cattails & sawgrass
An egret taking flight

Yes, there is worry here
     but here also is beauty.

The sometimes breeze ripples
across the tops
of the standing stalks
who sway in response—
     dance in time with the music's pulse
     in a laconic trance
from a firmly rooted stance—

See his wonder dawn:
He envies their home
     in this place as he,
     a supposed mere traveler,
     wanders through

He has had to enter
despite his terror
resisting his fear
to behold these glories

Wondering if
what he thinks is true
is what he now knows:

Must he leave them?
ha...
Can he leave them

when this marsh beholds him?


5.17.17 ©Steven B. Eulberg
#BareNakedBravery2