Certainty

Before you think
you’ve solved all the world’s mysteries
stand deep in the forest
let the sun fade
as the blackness swallows you.

Cool breeze blowing
wafting smells of wet,
dark earth to your nose
inky damp moss chilling your bare feet
stretching briefly to the deep blue-gray
trunks that fill your narrow view.

Ask yourself
if it’s really all so simple
why does your hair stand on end?

Make no mistake
the fear that grips you
loosens your proud neck
tightens your legs into coils
is not weakness.
It is wisdom.

Standing there in the dark
alone
that primal terror reminds you
how small you are
how much remains
Undiscovered.

Our ignorant certainties,
neat little tricks that promise us
what is unseen has no merit,
how quickly they flee
from the point our sight ends.

We comfort ourselves
soothing lies
telling each other how simple it all is.
Clockwork worlds ticking around us
behaving just as we’ve instructed them to.

We measure and slice
probe the edges
of the beautiful facade we’ve created
forgetting those old, archaic ways
and certainly the ignorance
of those who dared to suggest
there is something more deep
and more true
than the things we can fit in our boxes.

Where, then, is that certainty
late in the woods
when just out of sight
something crunches

Convince yourself
that the monster isn’t real.
I still wonder
why you thought of it
at all.