The Little Woods

The blacktop on this unnatural trail is icy.

Maybe the woods will invite a more welcoming meander.

Clean oxygenated air and some gentle exertion are my goal.

A 6-foot black chain-link fence separates the back of the 40 homes bordering this

treed paradise.

Must tramp through bushes branches reeds, climb over under many fallen

murdered ash trees.

The swamp that runs diagonally across the woods is trapping me inside.

Don’t want a branch in my eyes or wet January feet.

The swamp forces me close to the menacing black fence.

I avoid detection by owners and their yappy dogs.

For I seek privacy more than they do.

Will this excursion force this 70-year frame to call 911 on my smart phone?

That would not be very smart but would be embarrassing.

Anxiety and defeat leave me.

As I arrive back on the blacktop trail, I reflect to myself that this was a trudge

that should have been a gentle walk.

Blacktop trail beside the Little Wood

The swamp