The forest awaits

Hundred-year-old trees tower above

Holding up the sky with their branches

Secrets of long ago bear heavily upon the travelers

Muffled footsteps break the silence

A fox weaves between the mighty tree trunks

It looks up calmly at the intruders

Not at all frightened

Sunlight breaks through the canopy

And dapples the forest floor

Greens and golds intermingle

A bright, shifting pattern in a dark world

A hidden brook trickles quietly

Adding to the silence

Instead of breaking it

The travelers walk on