Life and Death in the Forest

I look out the window and see the leaves flashing green and think of walks I’ve taken recently, how I march now through a tunnel of treetops bending. This is the settled Folkstone, this shining place, with a forest encroaching on the road and the road obliging. 

Step off the road, follow the path, and you will enter a place of gathering sunshine. As the road is greening, the woods are clearing. The big trees are falling, dying, living out their natural lives. They are tumbling down in fierce rains and big winds. They are falling there, even if they’re not heard, and we, the walkers, are the only ones who notice.