The Anxious Woods

The landscape a monochromatic scene
under the brilliance of the winter sun
is punctuated with solemn, sullen and
dark tree trunks, resting on a white
forest floor, a dense coverlet for the
sleeping woods as resilient as time
and nature, waiting out its hibernating
hiatus before life returns and with it
the glorious shades of foliage and
woodland flowers inviting migration
absent birds to return and wildlife to
emerge from their refuge from branch-
cracking damp and cold and relentless
wind. This is the day of the Winter Solstice
when hours of the day are shortest and 
night endless; when light cast by the sun 
is relentlessly telescoped into cramped
hours reflecting Cosmic revolutions
in the evolution of space and time
impacting our celestial sphere. The
landscape is silent, serene though
chafing at the interruption of life's
ineffable rhythm, awaiting awakening.