You greet me with
the fresh scent of
pine bark and soil

Like the smell of air before rain

Your guardians stand
majestic and grand, some
over a thousand years

I am a guest in your home

Gray squirrels scurry
across fallen branches,
dark-eyed juncos sing

Sweet melodies reminding
me again my visitor status
This is not my home

A message reinforced
in my tired body with
each continuing step

How foolish to consider
only the humans who first
encountered your wonder

Now, I imagine a black bear
lumbering through your
gates, groggy from hibernation

A yellow warbler finding
rest in your treetops
following a long migration

A swallowtail sipping
sustenance in a meadow
of springtime flowers

Thank you seems insufficient
Today, it is all
my heart can manage

Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park