down michigan avenue
to escape into the wild,
to refresh in a kind of feral opening,
to stroll past the nature of things,
to take in Darwinian oddities
unmatched in the deepest forest

shops, tourists, taxis, flower pots,
stop lights

where a shoreline used to wave
and flood and turn and curl
civilizing the piles of sand
into something steady, strong
allowing grasses and shrubs
and birches and oaks
to dig in their heels to make a prairie

each stage making room for more
unexpected

down michigan avenue now
and then to turn right,
away, past the Episcopal Commons,
under the pounding of church bells
the flight of terrible angels
striving in the wind
holding fast in bronze

sand seeping up, ruddy wings
unfurling