Authenticity of Place
(for Virginia)

true to its history
true to its prehistory
true to what the land would do
without it being watched
true to the spirits of the place
asleep or awake or unfathomable

those who call it home
may long for it when they are away

those who sleep uneasily
may seek to escape it

those fools who think the world belongs to them
may obliterate it

those who sense the sleeping spirits
may mourn or plant trees or become warriors