River Forest

A path meanders the dappled shore,
wanders well-worn to a pebbly beach
where shallows sparkle, waffle and
warble under a spreading sycamore.

The forest ascends in a giant crowd
it’s press of silent, swaying pillars
that inspire, shelter, and so astound,
towering ageless, ever enduring.

Lush prairie grass invites a tryst,
our afternoon reverie; lays silky soft
as a wood nymph’s nest, pungent
with the earthy shoreline musk.

A lacey, leafy, shimmering canopy
sifts shadows, mutes the sunlight,
rustles faintly, whispers softly,
casts its hazy spell near twilight.

We linger near the lapping shallows,
lean and laze by the sunstruck shore,
meander a passage through an arbor
timeless, taintless, noble and pure.

first published in FLOOR OF THE SKY Chapbook

also published in Poetry Atlas