The Creatures of the Woods

photo from seraknee.com

(written in winter)

Somewhere on a mountainside,

a mother bear stirs in her sleep

in her winter cave,

faintly beginning to dream

of springtime berries.

In mountain streams,

fish slowly circle, waiting

until spring

when they'll be eaten

by the bear.

And among the bare brown branches

and broken twigs of winter,

deer move

as elusively as shadows,

their mouths hungry

for the taste

of fresh green leaves.

Below

is all man's hubbub

and commotion,

a muted roar,

as he noisily goes about

the business of getting

his daily food

called Getting More.

I sit as silent as a stone

and long for places

deep within

the forest's heart

where there is

no sound

save wind in treetops

and the soft, padding footsteps

of the creatures

of the woods.