The Next Good Rain

have never felt before

the print of humans or their boots,

only the hooves and claws of those

who in their ageless migrations

have inscribed the land in this careful way

Caribou, moose, wolf and grizzly

we encounter their tracks frequently

in creek bottoms or on a ridge's crest

and we place our own among them

understanding that we have changed the path

but that the next good rain

will wash us all away