For Brand Windmiller
by Ethel Mortenson Davis
You take a boy,
ten or eleven,
and put him
into the wilderness,
let him do
the hard work
of boating
before the destructive
influences permeate him,
and
let the wilderness
finish his training.
Let him eat berries and nuts.
And let him hear the sound of
the red-eyed loon
as she carries her young
on her back.
If once is not enough,
bring him again.
Let the wilderness
do her work.
Early in the morning,
push the bow
into the darkness
as the white fog
sits on top the water.
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