Natural Selection Poem by Brian Rihlmann

On a mountaintop
a gust of wind
like smelling salts
brings me back
and I wonder
how I got here.

I'd been daydreaming
the whole way up,
staring at my feet
as they shuffled along
the path through the pines,
head swirling with ideas
for great poems I'd write,
now forgotten,
as I stare out over
the silent mountains
hoping they'll whisper
a reminder.

I'm lucky I wasn't
stalked by a cougar,
that I didn't surprise
a mama bear with cubs
foraging in the bushes
as I drifted along
in a haze.

I'll bet not many poets
survived hunter gatherer times.