Call off the wild

We escaped to the Alps for a break
Wide open skies shining on a lake
Faraway peaks of green and scree
The great outdoors, as far as the eye can see

But bring your gaze back to our scale 
And you'll see the roads criss-crossing the vale
Streaming cyclists and hikers endlessly
Geared to their eyeballs with sports technology 
The pastures and their cowbell sounds
Squeezed between tents and camper vans 
The lake surface scarred by motorboats 
Torn by hulls, paddles, and pedalos
Even the sky is dotted with jarring fabric
Paragliders leaving eagles aghast at the traffic

Everywhere it's rubber, Spandex, and nylon 
Is this love of nature or its colonisation?
The landscape, a mere backdrop to personal glory
Of movements engineered to curb sedentarity

This is my call off of the wild
My pledge for a relationship mild
Where humans are back among the elements 
Rather than a species violently dominant

My stride will not break the smooth blanket of snow 
I will not throw off scent the innocent doe
With rank exhalations and synthesised smells
I won't pretend I'm under nature's spells 
When all I'm watching is myself in a go pro
I will not make it bend to the whims of my ego

I will walk nature's paths humbly and discreetly
I like to think it will wink back at me
Or grant me in all its magnificence 
Its most majestic indifference