to walk through new-fallen leaves
is to raise a thunderous hush
at the trailhead a red maple
grown grandiloquent with age
sends me in the wrong direction
past an abandoned scout camp
and a red oak with four massive trunks
festooned with wild grapevines
i scramble upslope to the trail
slipping on dry oak leaves
a tiger moth caterpillar
isn’t moving in the cold
black and bristly as the fisher
fleeing down the trail ahead of me
more like a badger than a weasel
more trundle than leap
the sun comes out and shows me
the shadow sides of things
a snag wearing a shroud
made of paper birch
beeches flaunting a fool’s gold
of lifeless leaves
tiny mushrooms gathered in a hollow
among yellow birch roots
i pause to snap a photo
and let other walkers pass
two panting humans and a poodle
modeling utter joy
throwing himself at the trail
as it turns up a ravine
completely if temporarily in love
with the smallest of waterfalls
i drop back to regain my solitude
worn out by a lingering cold
pick up yet another glossy leaf
to use as a tissue
on the way to the summit of the second
highest mountain in the state
the vistas are grand but I’m here
for the twisted oaks
finding alternate routes to the sun
through all that ridgetop wind
do they fight it or worship it
like Jacob wrestling in the darkness
but how strategic to drop their sails
before the arctic blasts
and with their leaves down
they are fantastical eldritch rococo
the only oaks that aren’t bare yet
are less than a foot tall
embers to catch the eye
of a young man laboring past
on his mountain bicycle
looking at the ground
from here the mountains of home
disappear into the haze
downslope the trees are younger
but bigger and full of themselves
the trail deviates from the map
re-created for two-wheeled recreation
i head off-trail and soon
become un-lost again
reveling in this leaf litter
a shambles not unlike my own
witch hazel blossoms dangle
in the low-angled sun
but my gaze goes
to the moss and ferns
and every last scrap
of embattled green
***
Blue Knob State Park, November 4, 2024