There is a time during a walk

 

Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash

There is a time during a walk

There is a time during a walk,
sometime after an hour has passed 
when the forest sounds become familiar,
the unevenness of the rocks and roots are 
second nature 
under my feet,
that my mind turns off the spigot of 

what if?
and my god!
and my thoughts smooth out
like the surface of a lake at dusk
when the day-wind
settles into night.
I become 
the aspen leaves
that turn themselves 
to shake the breeze;
who speak in whispers.

– steve peterson