It’s a Jungle Out There!

The forest trail disappears

Into a tangle of vines and undergrowth.

We pause, on the verge of the emerald oblivion,

Before entering into this hot and steaming

Unknown place that lies before us.,

Senses alert, breathing suspended,

As the disconcerting sounds of uncertainty

Resonate in the humid air like a great, unseen

Temple Bell of pagan sacrificial worship.

Faintly, saturating the molecules of vapor

With dangerous urgency, the sounds of

Drums vibrate on the mists of morning.

You walk ahead, I follow, guarding you

Against recollections evoked by

Those dreadful beats.

I watch your lithe body as it hesitates,

Stepping over tangled masses and heaps of

Fetid vegetation  with uncertainty.

The effort soaks your clothes with sweat

And molds them to your form with primal allure.

Ahead? Unknown emotional horizons to navigate?

Cannibals of the mind waiting to ravage heart and soul?

A human tiger trap awaiting but one fateful misstep?

Be careful, dark and beautiful one, for it is

A jungle out there and love favors only the

Quick of thought and the bold of spirit.

There are many dangerous animals

Lurking in the jungle we have entered

But never forget the fact

That the most dangerous

Predator of all is man…

In the chaotic wilds of your thoughts,

I silently await my moment

To spring.