Neutered Lands
Oh, we wear our hats tall
Proud conquerors of the land
Quick to prove our mettle
Lest someone question our frontier ways
Oh, yes we are descendants of
The fearless and brave
Adventuresome mountain men
Who forged a way through the dark, primal, forest
Hacked down
Cut down
Tilled under
All vestiges of the wild
Oh, we wear our rugged John Bridger badges
Professing a love for and understanding of the West
YET, let’s remember it was us who neutered the land
Parceled it out in neat little squares
Fine borders and edges around every piece
90 degrees
Straight lines
Barbwire defines
We blazed trails
Blasted roads
Damned and diverted rivers
Dissected mountains
Contrived labels and notations
Applied signs and directions
Anything wild and free
Buffalo
Wolves
Salmon
Grizzly Bears
Shot on site
Poisoned
Trapped
Muzzled and contained
Quickly shuttled back in the box
Managed
Manipulated
Oh, we wear our rugged machismo
On chests of bravado
Boisterous, bombastic, belittling
All can hear the cacophony chorus of fear
As we cower before true wildness
Truth be told
The wild west persona
Is a myth
Promogulated by dime store novels
Continuously clung to by vestiges of men
For we are incapable of operating in
The unpredictable
The unmanageable
Vast uncertainty of Wilderness
We sacrificed our own wilderness a long time ago
Enchanted by comfort
Enchanted by security
Enchanted by predictability
We neutered our souls
Welcome to the neutered lands