Embraced by the Woods

The moment boots imprinted soil,
the scent of bark and undergrowth
embraced us. We brushed past
rusty ferns and sodden grass,
and acres of trees exhaled
into fragments of sky and cloud,
a sigh that hugged our lungs
and filled them with a woody song.

Pinecones on the path, like Hansel
and Gretel crumbs, paved the way
into darkness, away from the day,
the only sounds the crunch of feet
on twigs and stones, the sough
of wind and intermittent bird chatter.

Flanked by sturdy trunks and limbs,
the everyday no longer mattered:
no cars, no news, no electricity,
just the deep woods, inhabited,
for the duration of a walk,
by wise old trees, and you and me.

Kim M. Russell, 12th January 2020

My poem for Poets and Storytellers United Writers’ Pantry #2: Storms and Stones and Warmth

The first quick draft of a poem about last Sunday’s walk in the woods. I’m hoping we might make it to the beach today.

42 thoughts on “Embraced by the Woods”

  4. Very cool, Kim!
    Almost all of my woods walks have been solo, hermitic migrations attempting to leave behind everything except all the wonderful stuff you write for us here.
    Well done!

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  7. How wonderful it is when we are able to happily lose ourselves in the comfort of the beauty of nature that is woodland.
    Well written Kim.
    Anna :o]

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  9. It has been too many years since I visited England, but your poems always take me back to the remembered ambiance of the countryside. I think of all the great poets of literature and how nature has been an all-pervading source of inspiration over the centuries.

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  10. “trees exhaled…A sigh that hugged our lungs” I literally took a deep breath after reading that. A walk in the woods (or the beach) is sometimes all that is needed to find a little peace.

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  11. I feel rejuvenated, after reading this one. As if I just got to tag along (and a non-creepy sort of way) and was able to delight in the lack of noise pollution, in the cleansing song of birds, in the company of trees…

    I love this.

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  18. I especially love “a sigh that hugged our lungs / and filled them with a woody song”. Wonderful imagery and thank you for taking us on this walk with you!

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  21. O Kim, you had me walking at the old church park at Saint Johnswood, and then into the leaf strewn paths through the old cemetery. Then squirrels and moss covered unreadable tombstones standing crooked to join me.
    ..

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