silence

snow falling
soft, light, slow
the lightest of breezes
brushes the flakes
against my cheeks

I am walking
to the woods
my steps
leave deep prints
in an unmarked plain

the woods are ahead
white, muted
soft, welcoming

silence, not a bird
the woods are silent
not a sound
except,

yes I hear children
screams of joy
sliding down the
sledding hill
what joy, what joy

I watch as small clumps
of snow fall from
small branches
thumping in the
quiet wood

A chickadee suddenly
sings, Chick-chick-a-dee
in the silence it sounds
like a bell

a fellow walker passes
in silence
we nod and keep walking
unwilling to disturb the silence
of the snowy woods

ah the quiet of a winter wood

Ruth Jewell, ©February 15, 2021
Photographs: Yost Park, Edmonds WA, February 13, 2021, by Ruth Jewell