Pine Forest Redoubt

Sun's rays glint through the glistening pines Residual moisture imbibes the fawning heat A cloak of needles hovers over the clandestine copse Fertile fortress clothes the stunted flora A whispering breeze bristles through the jaded cones Resinous scent blankets the blanched meadow Fondling fungus shrouds the damp floor Glittering flora splices the distant, tawny terraces Frothy owls hoot above the hoary mist Foraging squirrels funnel through the fallen, nutty residue Hollow bark clamors with the jackhammers of restive peckers Decaying mantle rattles with the sounds of boring beetles Cackling turkeys scour the ridges for autumn's latent seeds Petulant peccaries prat and preen through the bleached undergrowth Earth-toned stags nestle in the deep thickets Rippling brook gurgles through the sunken hollow