Forest for the Trees
Poetry
As summer sun slants,
angled light reveals fresh perspective,
annual epiphany:
Drowsy, deep greens hibernate
while autumnal decadence
splashes bio-fluorescent paint
across the stately, languid forest,
saturating clustered canopy —
black oaks, red maples, yellow aspen,
blue spruce, green pine, white birch —
thrusting each hardwood, each conifer
onto the foreground, into the limelight.
Residue from pastel runoff
seeps into crystalline water
reflecting a liquid-tree mirrored world.
Trees witness themselves
separately, uniquely
adorned in momentary splendor.
And yet, despite these fleeting moments,
so often we strive relentlessly
to see the forest,
to see the big picture,
to make sense of the whole-wide world;
and overlook those
spontaneous, exceptional
luminescent trees.