The Case for Winter Walks

A late December hike

on a cool and damp winter day

is a rare chance

for finding reckless sophistication

in a stripped-down Winter Woods

The lichen on the Oak trees

and ghost leaves upon the Beech

can best be seen

touched

heard

felt

on days such as this

Without walking through these woods

on a gray day like today

how would I know what I had missed?

Wildlands are all the more Wild

on a day that promise sleet

and discomfort.

The woodpecker's thick laughter, 

all the more mad.

The bright crimson flash

of cardinals darting through the trees

is deftly balanced by 

the deep leather embrace

of the damp leaves at my feet.

And if I slip on wet leaves

and fall on my pride

and I will

and I have

it is worth it.