Where Were We

It all counts, but you keep getting lost
In the forest of scale, dizzying
Zooms from twig tips smack into the trunks,

And then there’s the leaves on those branches,
No, the leaves in the mulch, no, the roots,
The mycelial threads connecting

Through all the exchanges, the breathing,
And did we mention the various
Birds, mammals, what about the insects,

And look, here’s the blizzard snapping oaks,
No, it’s wildfire season, and all’s lost,
And now it’s skeletons under stars.

It mattered. You could see it mattered,
But you could never hold focus well.
It all mattered. You mattered as well.