Feeling Your Weight

Check out Portugal. The Man's new song for Earth Day #EndangeredSong

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling Your Weight

 

 

we hike through the hemlock

trunks thick as the two of us

combined, you riding in a pack

upon my back

the sharp rays of evening sun 

reaching into the forest

I wait for the towering trees

to inspire you

will it be another bear hunt?

a monster chasing us? 

perhaps bigfoot?

what will we play?

 

just shy of three

you are, it seems

always reading my mind

already finishing my sentences

always surprising me

and I'm waiting for our play 

to begin, but also thinking

about tomorrow 

I plod up the trail, feeling your weight

thirty plus pounds of questions

you point to one of the giant stumps

the trail winds around

what's that? you ask

I stop. A stump, I say

no, you inform me

no, that means the Once-ler was here

Are you the Once-ler? I ask.

 

Your answer?

 

No, Dad. I am the Lorax.

And like that, you tell me 

tomorrow will be okay

[Poem #22 --- National Poetry Month and Earth Day! In support of Earth Day please search for and share the Sumatran Tiger song and the hashtag #EndangeredSong by the amazingly talented Alaskan band Portugal. The Man. There are only 400 Sumatran Tigers left in the world. Share the song, spread the message. Thanks!]