“This poem was written during a hike I took near Ithaca, New York. Because I have lived in cities all my life, I feel a little unsettled in ‘nature.’ Part of my unease comes from not knowing the names of the living things around me—from being at a loss for words. And, for a poet (with a poor Wi-Fi connection in the middle of a forest), that can be frustrating. So, I wanted to make a poem using what I had at my disposal—my ears—and use sound as a vocabulary, to recreate a place with a sonic lexicon.”