Out in the Great Indifference
Brandon Cook
Out in the great indifference of night and the dark forest and the pine cones bristled against each other,
In the velvet black which would take your soul quick as cutting grass, and neither hear nor move should you make a sound
Beneath the uncaring stars and the unknowing waters lapping against the lake, which would drown you without malice, and never lift a wave to raise you
There, in the darkest jetties, between branches, little eyes peep out
Creatures who would defend their homes with beaks or claws, with caws and grunted screams to shatter the sky with ferocity, before sitting down, assured of peace, to lick their paws
As a necessary matter, they know the business of survival, and yet
Deep in the night, in hidden dens, excited, they offer their bodies and their hearts—
They cuddle and make cozy
Not at all unlike you and me
Who now walk these woods respectfully, making sure we don't get lost, like miners through a cave, we make our way, your hand-in-mine
We dangle in the dark, and you squeeze each other to say, “It’s all okay”
Death is inevitable,
But we walk aware only of the air,
Knowing that no thing can ever be indifferent,
And that such illusions will be changed, in the holy instant yet to be