Dave Mason, Colorado’s poet laureate: Wilderness is more than a place
(Photo: Chrissy Mason) Colorado poet laureate Dave Mason was commissioned to write a poem to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. It got him wondering: what exactly is wilderness? The result: the following short work, which he read at the state Capitol.
Saying Grace
If every moment is
and is a wilderness
to navigate by feel
whether half or whole,
the river takes a turn,
the forest has to burn,
the broken fern to grow,
and is a wilderness
to navigate by feel
whether half or whole,
the river takes a turn,
the forest has to burn,
the broken fern to grow,
the silence of a night
of supplicating stars
may answer us aright:
our worries and our cares
are not the same as theirs.
Give us this day more world
than we can ever know.
of supplicating stars
may answer us aright:
our worries and our cares
are not the same as theirs.
Give us this day more world
than we can ever know.
