The Hibernating Forest

Here, in the dusky forest the world
seems thoughtful and serene in its
winter sleep, the heavens above
locked tight against sun, grey and
serrated clouds lofted above the tree
canopy, sieving and freezing moisture
that arrives lazily on fluffed pompoms
of white floating through the atmosphere
barely moved by a winter breeze
gradually sifting its gossamer-weight
over evergreen boughs and deciduous
trunks, raising the forest floor with
its pillowy loft. All is still, the creatures
of the forest in sensible hibernation
venturing out only when the frigid
ambiance temporarily relents, to
forage and re-acquaint themselves
with their familiar landscape absent
its verdant warmth, penetrating the
very ground with frost and freezing the
otherwise flowing streambed to one of
sheer ice. The forest in the grip of yet
another winter, its creatures enduring.