The Urban Woods

In that neighbourhood the geology is such
that it is impregnable to suburban/urban
'development' for the deep and extensive ravine
comprising a great, wide swath of the area is
also a natural storm run-off and domestic
construction would be too costly an investment
to realize a profit, so those fortunate enough
to live in direct proximity to the forest which
the ravine sustains realize in its presence a
treasure. One that scrubs the air they breathe
that hosts countless animals and a vast variety
of vegetation, venerable pines that withstood
the era of logging and which once stood close
to settler-era farmland long since moved on
to make room for said development. Leaving
communities of urban dwellers to migrate to
the outer limits of the teeming city where
most of the population view the forest from
afar, in appreciation of its autumn beauty but
impatience with the nocturnal presence of foxes
rabbits and raccoons seeking out food waste
and the antics of squirrels rooting about in
their gardens. That small number of residents
who make the forest their daily destination do
so knowing how irreplaceable the forest is to
the quality of life and from its presence take
comfort that there is much worth preserving.