In the cloud forest

February 15, 1985 Tinlandia, Ecuador

seeping moisture
    dank and cool
        trees, lianas, rocks and logs laden with

epiphytes
    ferns, orchids, lichens, and moss
        moss dripping from everything
            everything green, green, green

peeping colors of flowers blooming
    halfway up tree trunks and
        crouching beneath broad leaves underfoot

elephant's ear
    huge leaves that could shade armies
            yet more elephantine
                the ceiba tree tramples only when it falls

silent footsteps
    no crunching leaves underneath here
        just the swoosh swoosh of pants

getting soaked
    in the dewy vegetation
        clouds roll in and mist shrouds the palms
            into silhouettes.