The Interpretive Trail

I have followed the trail
that winds back on itself

ever climbing
ever descending

like the uncoiling fern
that opens
as a hand does
to grasp something new
or let go of a secret.

It is a way
like the deer’s.
It is a path
like the cougar’s.
Twin threads
stitching
up and down
through life
through death,
all the same.