Sounding Out The Forest

 

On high the giants of the forest move their

regal rain-drenched masts to the rhythmic

energy of wind, shaking loose bright pearls of

rainwater from an early morning rainfall.

There is an orchestral quality to the wind

soughing through the forest canopy, a slow

regularity of sound now a murmur, then a

distant train oncoming as gusts alternate and

reverberate through the forest, elaborated

and embroidered by the soprano intervention

of a song sparrow its sweet, clear melody

exciting the air as bees fumble back and forth

among the drenched wildflowers. Damselflies

loop their arabesque over the rain-swollen

stream below the forested hillsides. Swift

and nimble squirrels impetuously give chase

red after black oblivious to the grave presence

within the forest confines of coyotes' patient

opportunism. The mud-churning stream roils

and billows through narrow rapids, on its banks

jewelweed orchids glimmer in burnished

orange tones where hoverflies dance and

pollinate in nature's endless cycles. Tranquility

finally reigns in the pulsating woods until the

sky grumbles a deep, prolonged message

that on this hot and humid day a darkly

brooding sky plays host to rolling thunder.