One Day Only - Dec 31 2021

 

One Day Only

Dec 31 2021

The day after the storm

the winter forest

is majestically still.

It's like a cathedral

of the natural world,

a place of muted murmurs

and silent devotion,

as enduring as a church's soaring stone walls

and the faith of its followers.

The wind has died

and the quiet is almost unnerving.

A temporary death, to be sure;

sleeping off its exertions

in some far sanctum sanctorum,

dreaming of blizzards

and raging seas.

But I thank the gods of weather;

if not for these moments of beauty

then for keeping life interesting, at least.

I step outside

and the look up at the trees;

evergreens

standing like sentinels

against a deep blue sky,

their branches softened

by fresh white snow

They look as festive as a postcard winter;

a confected Christmas,

but free of the baubles and tinsel

and artificial trees.

The untouched brilliance

of virgin snow

that will last just a day;

until the winter sun, thin as it is

gets to work,

a breeze picks-up

and strips them bare.

One day only

of supernatural beauty

after the storm.

I walk, and the silence is broken,

the low pitched creak

of cold dry snow

with every step.

My frozen breath

hangs in the air.

I squint

through thinly slitted eyes,

unforgiving sun

glinting laser-like

off the smooth white surface.

A moment in time,

before the gods of weather get impatient

and the wind reawakens

and the next storm races in.

Before the stillness is broken,

and life, interesting or not

carries on.