ENGULFED IN SILENCE

We wandered through the forest green,
We felt the silence engulf us in solitude,
The air was still as shafts of sun were seen,
They filtered through the silent leaves
To rest upon the thickly mossed floor.
Then seen, not heard, a mouse scurrying
With seeds to some hiding place to store
Ready for winter’s long cruel, unrelenting reign.
Then the boughs bent to the will of the wind,
The only sound to be heard, and yet, listen!
Was that the gentle lapping of the lake by the wind?
Yet it did not disturb the quiet, but enhanced
In some mysterious way the silent solitude.
A bird gave a plaintive call as along a branch it danced,
As if saying farewell to summer, getting ready to depart
For far away places to some men unknown,
Yet you knew by his cry he was leaving his heart
In this forest, where silence is felt and beauty is everywhere.

M Ann Margetson