Never quite alone

thoughts, ever present
faint sounds, scraps of images
to which I cannot dissent
glimpses here, echoes there

with soft rainstorms a known regular
I can no longer lose myself in them
for there is one thought which is never far
once a hidden seed, the shoot has formed a stem

organic matter is no longer a mystery
a light over there, and auxin here
but what I feel runs back through antiquity
deep, slow, labored breathing – I need not a seer

only that solitude, more illusory than before
is not complete as the world lingers in my mind
a more perfect escape remains, which I shall not ignore
some lonesome fir ascends, a fortuitous botanical find

closing my eyes, I find I'm never quite alone
beloved memories linger, like soft sounds of rain
this change ever so teleological – an aspiration not to postpone
a specimen was taken cross hemisphere not in vain

opening them again, this vision can't be the same
unfamiliar gait, fierce scents, hearing faint sounds
survival not before in question, I now hunt for game
uprooted – in a novel land where curiosities abound

sensations, ever present
faint touches, scraps with taste
a bold unknown life I dare not resent
glimpses here, echoes there
remind me how I'm never quite alone
deep, slow, labored breathing –
never quite alone