Spring Forest Jaunt

Freed at last from winter garments
we follow those two little dogs
leaping across snowmelt, and
watch as they dig claws into
melting ice to propel themselves
on the ascent. As bipeds we
lack their quadrupedal advantages.
Snow and ice have not yet entirely
departed the spring forest as we
perambulate under a sea of blue
a fiery sun glowing through the
bare forest canopy. A cardinal
flashes its crimson plumage, alights
and whistles then trills its ecstasy.
I slither and slide down ice 
slushed trails, fall into a micro
lake of snowmelt. My companion
grips to steady me and again
we follow the two black sprites
as beyond, in the inner confines
of the woods, the ghostly sound of
an owl hangs somberly on the air.