Original DDE™ art: “Birch Brook” — by: rob kistner © 3/10/26
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I am the young pulse
of the western Cascades—
the veins of powerful
fresh rivers thread
through my vital wilderness—
the mountains and forests
my pure wild waters
rush like red blood
through green arteries
rapids quickening
the steady beat
of my strong heart
powerful waterfalls
spill like silver breath
from my lips
crisp lakes lie deep
as quiet chambers
of a living chest
see here my fir and birch
proud sentinels
of the rivers and streams
for ages I have nurtured
the the life giving elements
of clean rain…
fresh snowmelt…
and I have breathed
unsullied winds
then you arrived—
thin of spirit…
tired of lungs…
after long decades
among the gray arteries
of cities run rampant
you came from lands
where the pulse had weakened—
where fields and streams
once healthy and breathing…
…now wheezed beneath concrete
…now choked on industrialization
…now strangled by the grip
of over population
I felt the fatigue
inside your bones—
the slow dimming
of a spent human tide—
so I opened my wilderness to you
which you eagerly embraced
like a flagging body
welcoming oxygenation
from new blood
and my rivers entered you
like bright transfusion—
their cold clean currents
reawakened your dreams
clear waterfalls revived
your world weary heart
you drank from my mountains’
moving lifeblood—
your spirit responded
to my welcoming call
now your breath carries
the scent of fir and birch
salt ocean air
and intoxicating petrichor
your pulse echoes the rhythms
of my wild nature’s drums
I am the freedom of that wild
I am the power of rushing water
I am the energy of the winds
I am the Cascades
<~>
rob kistner © 3/10/26