Contrast Woods Poem by Raj Dronamraju

The woods here are lifeless, dirt roads cut into them used by burly men carrying logs over their shoulders
Large lifeless tract of spaced apart trees that don't feel like real growth, feel like the display window in a department store with mannequins as people the way these trees are nature
The puddles are filled with tinted gasoline reflections and the hyperactive foam of detergents

The woods here are bustling, too much life for this space, too many animals for such a small space
The buzz of living is constant and makes me think of monks in humming prayer
Out of the corner of your eye, something moves and runs and undulates in the grass and the undergrowth
Health is dirt that is dirty without man and greenery unchecked in the direction it grows in

Middle ground in here,20 minutes from my house I can fool myself that this is the wild
Another 20 minutes, I can embrace life, sweaty, muddy, insect biting life
Or I can look through curtains at shimmering hot days of this little potentate
This kingdom, this barely half an acre, regularly mowed lawns and bloodless beings