View from Inside
by Candace Armstrong

An early woodpecker signals the start
of the avian workday. Feathered song
fills the air. A silent wind belies the busy
undergrowth. Daredevil squirrels leap
from branch to branch, their high-wire
nests still exposed, not yet camouflaged.
Emerging leaves dot twigs stretched
toward the sun. A white cloud tapestry
crowns the scene.

Soon the woodland curtain of green
will clothe brown trunks that shield
summer’s drumming life. Already
white dogwood blossoms dot
the understory punctuated by puce-
colored redwood blossoms.

The sound of a distant train whistle
visits. The living forest shelters in place.



 

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