soft-soled sneakers step through
messy mud, slip on
stained stepping stones,
dealing death-blows to decades of
root work, rhizomes, winter rosettes of
limp leaves no longer lifelike, lingering
bereft, half-buried, burdened by
compaction
and lack of traction and
human tracks from
soft-soled sneakers, sealed over
brown feet, belonging to
bodies of brown men marching
mindless of my mental melancholy;
scaling steep slopes, not slipping
while gripping
rough ropes and roof ridges using
driver-drills, dawn to dusk
ratcheting roofing rivets while
saws shriek, cutting stick-straight seams in
patterned panels placed precisely under
expert eyes, as I
watch wanton waste from windows.
This is my privilege:
to prioritize plants over people,
woo wildlife without the weight of worry,
wander winding wooded paths protected
by my purchasing power bought
by my birthright as a
white-collar white woman.
Woke? but wallowing
while watching
soft-soled sneakers step through
messy mud
Roads End Naturalist 
This is awesome. Well written and thoughtful. Insightful. Thank you for reaching deep and sharing what you found.
Thanks, Deb.
What a beautiful expression of the heartbreak of watching civilization destroy nature! We know it is inevitable and often necessary – after all, we all live in homes and neighborhoods and go to stores and schools that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Still, it’s heartbreaking to think of the life and lives destroyed in the process. I think it is Steinbeck in his book “Travels With Charley” who said “I wonder why progress looks so much like destruction.” May we all be more mindful of our interactions with all sentient beings and the environment in which they live.
Thank you, Melissa.
Thanks for your kind words, Elise. I was just so struck by the juxtaposition of my sadness over a few plants perishing and the absolute competence and skill of the roofers, whose lives are so different from mine.
beautiful work, and I think every footstep we take carries the weight of our privilege.
So true, Mary. And I have so much work to do to recognize its extent.
Nicely done: a tribute to the hard-working men, and the subtle guilt we sometimes feel as we live our life on this earth
Thanks, John.
Wow. Your words really gave me pause. Not just for the story they told but for how powerfully you used them.
Lovely poetry. Thank you.
Wow, what a lovely way to deal with the tension we are all feeling!
Very good, Melissa. (Didn’t know you were a poet)
Wow – I had no idea you were a poet! I’m moved by this – much more than most of the poetry I studeied as an english major in college back in the middle ages.
Thanks so much for sharing.