The Road Though Quiet Pines

I walked a road through quiet pines,

Beneath the sky where daylight shines.
The earth was soft, the air was still,
And far ahead, a distant hill.

The leaves lay thick upon the ground,
No step I took could shake their sound.
The trees stood tall in patient rows,
As if they knew what no one knows.

The path bent once, then twice again,
A winding trail through field and fen.
I could have turned, I could have stayed,
But feet move on though hearts have swayed.

The sun sank low behind the crest,
The air grew cold, the wind confessed.
Yet all was well, though much was lost,
For every step must pay its cost.

And so I walked, with thoughts my own,
Upon a path not fully known.