Mountain Arras

At the trailhead tall oaks and bark
exfoliating yellow birches conceal the
forest beyond, bright white blossoms of
raspberry canes relieve the gloom of an
overcast day, and robins sing in
expectation of rain. The mountain trail
winds steeply as it mounts toward its
summit destination. A stream courses
downhill in a narrow trickle from above
perfect habitat for breeding black flies.
Boulders strewn artfully alongside the
trail and among them, blueberry shrubs
and lilies-of-the-valley crowd chummily
around tree trunks of pine, oak and
hemlock. Moose maple and dogwood
comprise the understory. The trail
littered with last fall's abundance of
acorns. The forest floor damp and ferned.
In the dim interior light of the forest
shades of green glow and pulsate
the mountain slope thick with flora
a Northern thrush pealing its praise.
The trail is worn from booted generations
of hikers, erosion revealing a network
of tree roots. The sun timidly probes its
warming rays through parted clouds
then withdraws as wind and darkened
cloud cover make good on the promise
of rain. At the summit, wind-blasted
trees and alpine vegetation sparsely
cover cracks and shallow deposits of
soil on the mountain's granite face.