Ah, A Walk in the Woods

We take our cue on viewing the day
from what it is that surrounds us and this
day we are engulfed in the dark mood of
a late November day with all of nature's
atmospheric elements engrossed in out
distancing their effects singly by joining
forces to prove that misery loves a crowd.
Politely put, this has not been a pretty
day in the woods, no sun, however wanly
remote but visually brilliant, ample wind
wickedly sending shafts of icy fingers
wherever vulnerability is in evidence. As
for striking out into nature to appreciate
fresh air and an assignation with nature's
incomparable landscapes, accompanying
those sought-after benefits are the side
effects of intermission between autumnal
nakedness and winter onset, a nasty ambience
of damp cold creeping into every unsheltered
orifice, eyes weeping and lungs inhaling
the result, while the woodland trails upon
which stout boots state their presence in
crisp crackles of dried foliage amassed
on the forest floor, with the muck of rain
drenched clay frozen in spikes of ice, later
flattened by overnight rain, freezing to
slick ice with overnight temperature drops
offers the unwary the opportunity to slip and
slide involuntarily descending hills in a
tangle of straddling legs and waving arms
incapable of arresting head-banging, back
slamming glides of malicious portent.