What if we who are here now
will be the last ones to walk
among the trees. Ever.
To walk anywhere, for that matter.
The push of the final button
in a world that has gone insane
seems well within the range
of possibilities after all.
Any day now, everything
could be gone. All of it.
But today I walk in the woods
on a perfect summer day,
breathing in the smell of it
as if this were the first time
I ever experienced its perfume.
I give thanks for the vibrant green
life of it, for the packed dirt path
beneath my feet, for knowing
that I, too, am alive, right here,
right now, remembering words
from an unknown poet:
My cathedral has no walls.
Amen.