Let Me Be Wild

Quit trying to domesticate me.
I did not ask to be tamed
To spend my life trapped in tidy boxes formed from trees straightened into 2 x 4s
To be towered over by pillars of metal and concrete
To travel on steel wheels that move so fast 
I cannot see the ground beneath my feet,
I did not ask for this surround sound of cars, planes, and machines whirring, 
Or to be imposed on by a ticking clock demanding an account for every minute
Or the black faces of screens waiting for me to ask to be entertained or informed
Glowing with the blue light of their answers
(the screens I am sitting with even as I write these words),
I do not want to eat food that has forgotten what it is supposed to taste like 
or every harvest to be cleanly plucked from a shelf,
I do not want to cover my body with 
The things that will hide my gross humanity
To wear clothes that shed microplastic beads everywhere I go,
I did not ask for all my paths to be straightened and flattened
And made easy
I did not ask to come out at the end of this journey clean.

I am bewildered by how we got here,
Let me be wilder.

Let me wander on the uneven, meandering path
Struggling up the mountain one steady step at a time
Sliding down the muddy creek bank
On the pathless path that takes me past trees that are old friends
Trees bent and twisted by the process of living,
Let me stare at the horizon’s soft unpredictable lines
My face glowing golden in the light of the sun,
Let me sleep deep in a cove where the horizon towers above me
And I am sheltered from this domesticated world
And the sun rises late and sets early,
Let me be informed by the light of the sun and the steady cycle of seasons,
Let me taste the warm sweetness of a sun-ripened blackberry
And let my blood ooze from the scratches of the thorns as I reach in for each precious packet,
Let me fall asleep to the sound of white water, not white noise
Let me shed my clothes and be in my animal body
To plunge my warmth in the icy waters,
Let me admire my body for the strength of my muscles, not the smoothness of them
Let the blood rise in my alerted veins
As I join the ancient call of the coyote startling the black night.