I sense something skulking in the woods
It is darker than dusk
I see nothing; the evening is silent
No rustling, no twig snap
I do not know how I know
But I know
I head for my house
Expecting to get pounced and eaten
The path dissolved three turns ago
Green walls press closer now
Ferns brush against my bruised shins
Every tree looks like the last one
Sunlight drops the canopy like sharp needles
The air smells of damp moss and old rot
A twig snaps behind my left shoulder
I freeze
The forest holds it's breath with me
I am not longer the observer
I am the guest who stayed too late.
he lives for the woods
his body smells of musk
and nature combined
My heart, though silent, beats steadier, then
Love is written in this gentle voice
Cool winds, playing softly, a moment, when
Gentle thoughts offer no other choice
Singing a chorus of love that believes
My spirit soars to new heights, I can see
Beyond the music of the tree who grieves
Sweetest song, so rich and brave, wind can free
Secured by faith, the joy of love shines bright
Sweetest tones of hope drift over my life
While notes of peace rise from the sunny light
I feel the sway of music that heals worst strife
Thrown about by the dreadful winds of change
Like a leaf in the woods, whose fate feels strange
I'd rather fall at the hands of nature—
endure the whiplash from changing seasons,
be ransacked in storms erasing verdure
but not by crude loggers or their reasons.
In time to come, I might be metallic,
slip from imagination, unreal!
What is wood, this leaf, but an italic?
Who will append me to the holy grail,
will to elegize my lost symmetry?
Today has already begun with breeze
lilting foliage; fluttered melody,
transporting berries, bewitching degrees.
A caterpillar licks my face away,
and a worm is canceled by a blue jay.
While in the woods a leaf upon the ground
Soon caught my eye because it was so bright.
I knelt, and picked it up then also found,
A tiny creature we would call a sprite.
I gazed in awe, I knew they did exist,
Here in the woods but one I had not seen.
So, felt quite blessed to have one in my midst,
Under the leaf, bright yellow, red, and green.
Not to disturb, him I replaced the leaf,
And smiled while then I quickly walked away.
Because I did not want to be a thief
But seeing him, had really made my day.
So, if your ever in the woods, look out
You never know when sprites may be about.
A single leaf, adrift on windswept air,
Descends from boughs where summer held its sway,
A vibrant hue, now tinged with autumn's care,
It dances down, to greet the fading day.
It whispers tales of sunlit, leafy green,
Of gentle showers and the robin's song,
A silent witness to the woodland scene,
Where ancient roots have held for ages long.
Now soft it rests upon the mossy ground,
A humble shroud for seasons past and gone,
Yet in its stillness, beauty can be found,
A quiet end, till spring begins anon.
So, let us watch this fragile, falling leaf,
That like human life spins for short while brief.
I went across the field of daisies
Lavenders and tulips too
The time around was self-erasing
Flowers bent as I walked through
Stepped onto a wooden path
Trees ahead were falling down
Leafy branches I did pass
Out of woods I went to town
It was raining through the sunlight
Garbage and recycling bins
Stood there overflown as I
Passed the cobblestone old streets
I’ve found your house rang the door
Someone else’s voice proclaimed
You don’t live there anymore
And they can’t recall your name
Then I died and went away
Cause the dead can walk unseen
So I do this everyday
Walking in and out of screen.
Leaf, mostly green, sometimes coloured vary
in size : broad- long -short, supplies chlorophyll
to make food for plants, act as food factory
in the sunlight ! Basic needs to fulfill.
Even thin slender green Leaf in the Sun prepares.
food with help of chlorophyll, being smart.
Green leaf is thus responsible to care
to cook always remaining alert.
Green leaf in Sunbeam is the cook for plant.
Plant supplies food stuff in turn
to every living being to enchant !
No worry, food cycle smoothly to run.
A leaf whether in garden or in woods :
Under sun always prepares food.
It earns its place under the sun in May -
A tiny speck against the evergreen.
Nourished by raindrops poised for its display,
Slim but what Glory! In grand Nature’s scene.
In summer lush the flowers take the lead,
They have it all - a beauty and such scent.
Leaf in the woods, reluctant to concede,
Assumes supporting role in full consent.
In Autumn flash the leaf - a centrepiece,
Its pulsing palette wins and takes it all…
All Nature bends to seasonal caprice,
Leaf in the woods, from triumph to the fall.
Succumbs to weather whims, weak and worn-out,
It’s fleeting life leaves nothing but a doubt.
August 11, 2026
WOODS
like a
church temple.
I walk winding paths,
past painted wildflowers,
to where the trees touch the sky.
"Here I find my serenity. "
I find myself upon the woodland’s floor.
Adrift am I each time wind starts to blow.
My brothers and my sisters are no more.
How long I’ve wandered I don’t even know!
I yearn for days of warmth when all was green
and birdsong filled the air. I miss my home.
I feel wind’s fury as I now careen.
My fate I dread. Oh, how long must I roam?
My color that changed crimson has grown dim.
Has God a care for me? I've withered small.
The cold comes creeping and the sky’s gone grim.
I tremble, sorrowing to see snow fall.
If verdant bliss awaits each dying tree,
what of its leaves? May snow come bury me.
A Leaf in the Woods 8-6-26
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Leaf in the Woods
From high above the quiet forest floor
I see the memoirs of the summers passed
Frost eaten veins reveal forevermore
The remnants of a supple life’s repast.
The leaves of maples, umber oak and birch,
Here blend into a testament of life
Prophets gone, tell of once gloried church,
Their voices speak of icy winter’s strife.
Yet I still drink the saps of summer dreams
When galaxies spin through each solstice night
Their symphonies lament the lost moonbeams
Remembering their souls through forest light.
And, when for me this summer passes by
I pray my life to grace will testify.
A dislodged leaf from dry tree floats away
in turbulent air across land fallow
with its lone life through the freedom archway,
evades the whirlpool of chaotic flow.
To a woodland it sets its course to fly,
soaking up the aura of sequined dust
splashing from the cauldron of sparkling sky
in dulcet dawn of sunburst color gust.
Plunged in the vortex of the tumult stream
my soul’s lone leaf wilts in disposition
for me to incite my senses to dream
in the serene shade of isolation.
Strolling in the woods of solitude swift
I discern the leaf of lost me adrift.
what lies beneath brush
lavish greenery of woods
and hidden blood lines
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