Forest twilight

Twilight fades
in the damp dark forest.

Nothing stirs the mist.
Deadness and silence.

No sound but
the panting of dogs
of dripping leaves
and of a distant owl.

Stillness
all around this
lonely place
echoes the world within.

Nearly everything
is gone

And then
remember
the candle
at the bottom
of it all

I light a flame
and hold it
in my hands.

Just a flame
in the forest

But the only light
in acres of darkness.

So in the empty chill
of winter
a single light
shines hope
for miles around.

But as the seasons shift
the same small flame
could destroy this all.

 

Afon Clearwen
7 January 2002

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page updated 23 Nov 2003

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