Through the Woods

        At night we gyrate amid the greenery
       to shake wildly with mirth in the brisk autumnal chill,
     flushed and flustered and weary,

   dancing with each other through paths in
 the desultory forest. 

"Ah, isn't it nice out here in the dark?" a friend asks.

The idle trees look friendly in every direction.
 The shrubbery is disinterested and bored,
  cold and sallow like the skin of an elder.

  I look confused, and hesitate momentarily before I respond.

"Yes, it is."
 

The forest fixes me an unwavering stare
                                         as we continue moving inward.

Reviews

[Jon Osborne]

This is one of my favorites, buddyo. I enjoy the imagery and the simplicity of the statements. It's really very provocative. Easy to experience, and I like the bizarre dynamic of the spoken lines. I like the minute personification of the trees, shrubbery and forest itself. It's wholly believable and a good description of what the woods would look and feel like.