Nature's Rituals

The forest trail begins its meandering
journey as an old country cart-track
and gradually narrows, reflecting
the forest's reclamation, yet the trail
persists narrow and inviting, a bower
of branches from neighbouring hemlocks
reaching to clasp the sky, an intimacy
of shared space, a glory of verdant
place interspersed by random growth
of beech, oak, maple and birch, all
now in the throes of fall preparedness
for winter's arrival, dressed in the
ephemeral splendour of red and gold
foliage lazily detaching, to float airily
on each waft of wind, spiralling to the
forest floor, the forest canopy slowly
denuding, the green masts of the conifers
an exultation of perseverance, welcoming
bluejays, chickadees and nuthatches
even as geese depart, their formation
turned south in their migratory ritual.