Bless this Underworld Mess

"Take me back, oh take me back

To the long grass and the shadows."

Elk Falls viewing platform.
"Erected by the Young Men's
Forestry Training Plan 1936."
Mist rises through old growth,
And a steady roar reverberates.
The end of all our exploring
Is to know nothing. I forget.

Somewhere, a town named
Gold River remains unvisited.
Other towns, better known, too.
You can't make this stuff up.
You can't even get it down.
The scent on the air haunts you.
You've been somewhere here before.

I've been thinking about noises,
Noises and sounds. There are
Sounds that comfort the ear
With the steadying rhythms poets
Long for as they long for drink,
Sleep and rhyme. There are noises
Only the profound can drown.