The Dark Curtain of Night

This untouched forest is a gift to nearby urban
dwellers though most are oblivious of its
presence on the outskirts of large metropolitan
city, preserved as a natural setting for wildlife
because of its geology, unwelcoming to the
plans of developers where nature has devised
a deep and long, winding ravine where
conifers and deciduous trees grow large and
plentiful and generations of nature lovers
have forged trails through the once-dense
underbrush absent now of grouse and pheasant
still visited by hawks and owls those avian
hunters whose presence so alarms songbirds.
Deer are now seldom seen as the urban mass
has grown tighter around the nature preserve
but coyotes find there a perfect habitat teeming
with small furry wildlife blithely furnishing
nests with vulnerable offspring. The forest
interior is perpetually dim and fantastical
in winter snugly comforted with layers of
snow and daylight hours short, dusk exerting
its presence in the low hum of murmurs and
sighs, the wind soughing through branches and
boughs, animals and birds settling down
awaiting the dark curtain of nightfall.