vicarious existence

calming warmth surrounds me with

protection from outdoor ravages
of cold and rain howling winds
and those that wish to harm me
out of envy or predatory ways

sitting here in comfort with my thoughts

and creative nurturing to paint lovely
pictures with my words exhorting
the vicarious needs of calm and soothe
a choice to extricate myself from harm

while I do this the desert burns hot and arid

scorching and killing the soul of life
in the forest are the predators who ravage
without care the young fawn grazing
in the open fields tiny rodents scurry to
hide from the incising hawks beak or in the
rivers springs and oceans the fish are unaware
of the portentous eagles talons

gone awry is the human caring for a week

and feeble child who desires but a simple
caress which has been replaced by cold
abandonment and who just wants
to be loved and given one days crumbs
and a warm place to rest

and there are the angry and uncaring

who unabashedly prey upon the weak
for their nominal morsels, steal from
the unwitting, the same who denude our
forests and unabashedly still spew ugly
contaminants into the earths breath

looking outside my window onto swaying

trees whose leaves have been torn away
by the swirling winds that bring in the
winters snow and I sit here with my words
painting pictures of a wintry fest
but I dare not forget how with this pristine
loveliness comes a disheartening gray
and frigid cold