Like Enkidu before wrestling Gilgamesh
to a draw, Garrett spent his days
among pronking gazelles communing

with nature, drinking water side
by side Nubina ibex & exotic egrets
that never seemed to notice

his human presence, acknowledging him
as a comrade untainted by brute male
aggression or fluttering female hearts.

Found unconscious by a virgin novitiate
Garrett awoke naked as a babe between silk sheets;
cloaking vulnerability with a twisted sense of humor,

he encouraged ingesting hallucinogenic herbs…
traveling beyond Savanah dunes to grassy fields
of apprehension…where curiosity supplants

bravery and sensitivity trumps stoicism
whilst imagination runs rampant over
natural acceptance & wildman bravado.