In college, and constantly wandering,
In search of the beautiful new,
When I happened upon a roadside stop
With an autumn forest view.
These colors were strange to a Florida boy,
But the whole thing seemed inviting
At an age where, at best, we just take things in,
And mere being is exciting.
So I drove til I found a forest road,
Where I set out to walking
In the days before phones and GPS —
Far away from the noise, and the talking —
And I found, like the woods that I knew as a boy,
This forest had rooms, and secrets;
Like college kids, who are shallow up front,
But deep when you can’t see it.
Six hour later, in a cheap motel,
With three springs in the mattress,
I thought about October’s ways,
And a girl at school — an actress —
And I closed my eyes to the silhouette
Of the car outside my window,
Then retuned to the forest, in my dreams,
Where I always long
To go
