Forest Way

A path at midway, idly found

I chanced across, while walking late

Over chilly, frozen ground

That the green had long obscured

 

I half turned back, and longed to stay

But the wilderness had its say 

And, by listlessness, I was betrayed

That has drawn me there, so far astray

 

It was hidden before by the wide oak trees

Whose leaves had fallen, there to wait 

Stripped by cold, and thoughtless fray

Of the winter storms, whose handiwork

Had left the sky a surly, ashen gray

 

Well concealed from prying eyes 

For a wanderer, such as I

That he may, sole, seclude

His loneliness, from interlude 

 

And trod the bare, earthen way

That it should take him as far as it may

And, where he might stop, to lean

Against a kind, and sturdy tree

Here should, for a while, stay

 

There to find some peace at last

Where unmarked snow met yellow grass

And there, his every care would lay

To rest