Trouvaille

In birds and humans alike,
An urban environment
Selects for problem-solving,

Proximity tolerance,
And brave neophilia—
Weird new things are worth a try.

Don’t ask me how I got here,
Neophilia leading
Me away from the cities

To the emptier suburbs
At the edge of the desert
Where I grow intolerant

Of human proximity
And lose interest in problems
I once fantasized solving.

On a winter day I might,
When permitted, spend the hours
From before dawn to sunset

Sitting beside a wayside
Shortcut used by elk, watching
Wind in dry grass, old snow melt.