Deep in the Forest

An October walk in the forest.

A Forest track, Sunlight lighting up the path, dense dark vegetation either side.
Deep in the forest, the sun doesn’t heat Pine needles fall and pinprick your feet Birds rarely sing and ants hardly crawl A darkness encircles, a silence calls. Stray from the path and lose your way Night-time soon will replace the day Don’t rest your head, don’t count sheep No sweet dreams if you drift asleep. Disturbing critters where you tread Spark the jitters, installing dread Hold your breath, feel the heart pound Mind deadly toadstools all around. Be careful of where you roam Stick to the path, find your way home.
  • Deep in the Forest
  • The New Forest
  • Hampshire
  • UK

Wandering along the path on a sunny day in the New Forest I was instilled with a sense of joyous well-being. The sun was warm and bright, birds and insects were busy around, and vegetation thrived, but only along the edges of the path. A step off the path and the dense canopy of the forest was excluding and forbidding.

The contrast between light and dark should make your feet want to stay firmly on the path, but the mind's curiosity sometimes pulls in the wrong direction and then your feet just have to follow. Getting lost in the forest ignites the imagination.