Late January, in the cold clear wood
Boots crunch through layers of snow and ice
Breath catches in beard and scarf
Freezing in the air before me
Leaves clatter in the wind between the otherwise still forest
A clearing, by man or fire,
out in an opening where the sun bursts through
signs of the denizens of the glen
in turned soil, crushed tracks of all sizes
and a field of scat, of the white-tailed deer
Saturating myself in the senses awoken
away from all but these sights and sounds
in the smell of the balsam and pine,
the taste of ice
Following the footfalls first of deer
then of vole and chipmunk
Watching the shape of stem and vine
of leaf and tree
the changed impressions of the land
under snow’s blanket
Losing time behind the lens
Luxuriating in the quiet
the simplicity, the peace
of that time and place
1/1/06 17:45
North Conway, NH, at least 6 years earlier
Copyright by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage.
(Raymond A. Foss)
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