Large, dark elk were out there. I'd seen them
On the road at night, and swerved. Also
Bears, of course, mostly black ones, the rare
Grizzly up high usually, also coyotes,
Moose, plenty of deer of two species,
A few beaver, mountain lions, and, if last
Week's encounter was genuine, a species
Of wild sheep or goat, possibly Dall, snowy
White as a polar bear, fluffy and hooved.
But none of them were visible this afternoon.
Not even the invisible squirrels could be heard.
Not even one brave grouse stalked
The high grass and wildflowers at the edge
Of the dirt path. They were out there,
Of course they were, and hundreds of others,
Including hundreds more of people and cars,
But none of them were visible this afternoon.
I, we, the composite I am, sat as alone as
Any organism ever gets under the sun,
Bothered by the odd fly, infested
And helpfully colonized by my billions
Of tinier eating and excreting angels of life,
Invisible to any of my own kind now myself,
Watching the invisible breezes stir needles,
Listening to an invisible creek, smelling
The invisible hint in the air that there is
A race among all things, even the not
Living things, to finish their business first,
To vanish, to get to the bottom of things.
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