The holy hills of this sacred land
nurture the creatures, large and small,
who live among its moist earth
and granite rock.

Below the red sandstone outcrop
in the ravine with the creek
that runs through it,
new life thrives,
unseen by most of the passersby
who come this way.

Yet still, I drink its water,
I see the cottontails, the sage and the wild turkey.
This place is alive in ways I don’t always understand.
And so am I.

-David Karchere