in late summer
naked bodies beautiful

we walk sandy trails
willow thickets spit out
sun cliff tower walls
still we go deeper
 
salt water lips we swim 
muskgrass swaying in stream
wet rainbows quiver we glimpse
warm shallow ripples

we roll on dunes curving down
large bodies burnt brown 
soft red glinting in river silt 
lines that gorge bottom sound

recreational pleasure please
watch us
hard and touch us
gentle

dark forests dive
    deep down parted mounds
wood muscle moss
bush silvered gloss
cedar grain aged lines

an imp among
woodland creatures offers
blackberries and beckoning
eyes twinkle

stone worker builds   
bodhi brings down 
the sky rings truth off  
sun cliff tower wall echoes

over golden hour bottom showers
slick soft river silt
late summer naked bodies
wood muscle moss

holding and held
this orbit still spins

---

Author note: “In writing this poem, my wish is for the reader to share in the spiritual experience of a perfect late summer day spent at a hidden nude beach nestled between a willow grove and a sandbar, deep within an ancient river gorge. It’s a place where you can easily make a new friend while walking the muddy trails naked, and where years of body shame can melt away in the heat of the overhead sun. I hope this poem inspires you to strip down and go find a river to play in.”

J. Turner Masland is a queer land worker, writer and artist. He focuses on a creative practice that explores the intersections of ecology and poetics in the age of climate collapse and rising fascism. Turner lives on the Olympic Peninsula with his husband, dogs and a small herd of goats. His first chapbook of poetry “Hagstones” was published by WinterTexts in the spring of 2023.