and everything is at once: the snake is beautiful arched striking my leg.

also nothing is forever, including myself.

i'm fragile, i'm cold, and i'm alone, and it makes the warmth within that much greater.

nothing is separate. i breathe air and it's like a curtain i pull in and out of my mouth. i stand on ground that other things inhabit.

each day, something eats me and i eat something.

the things i see are manifestations of a process that maintains the whole thing. plants eat sunlight, rabbits eat plants, hawks eat rabbits, decaying carcasses and feces become fertilizer.

what is important is not the rabbit, as it is right now, or the hawk, as it is right now, but the continuity of the process.

that is its design

that design is immortal although no parts of the system itself are

ultimately, this universe is a supremely logical place. the forest is the most logical place of all. there is no mystery except for that which is obvious mystery (dark caves with heavy breathing originating in them).

in the forest, i feel a sense of peace with myself and with both life and death, because meaning is more important than the means by which it is created, namely physical reality.

even in the dark