Unknown.

The rising sun not beet.

or blood,

but sea-rose red.

I amplified my heartbeat

one thousand times,

the animals at first confused

then decided I was another

thunder being.

While talking directly to god

my attention waxed and waned.

I have a lot on my mind.

I worked out

to make myself as strong

as water.

After all these years

of holding the world together

I let it roll down the hill

into the river.

One tree leads

to another,

walking on

this undescribed earth.

I have dreamed

myself back

to where

I already am.

On a cold day

bear, coyote, cranes.

On a rainy night

a wolf with yellow eyes.

On a windy day

eleven kestrels looking

down at me.

On a hot afternoon

the ravens floated over

where I sunk

myself in the river.

Way out there

in unknown country

I walked at night

to scare myself.

Who is this other,

the secret sharer,

who directs the hand

that twists the heart,

the voice calling out to me

between feather and stone

the hour before dawn?

Somehow

I have turned into

an old brown man

in a green coat.

Having fulfilled

my obligations

my heart moves lightly

to this downward dance.

Jim Harrison