Valley to Forest

Her name was once in the valley:
under passing sun and shade, shielded from wind.

Lesser-known but welcoming, her name
easily trodden,
offering comfort to those who would pass through.
Shadowed, sheltered;
hidden until one needed it,
trembling as others passed,
quietly it remained. 

So it was,
until
she slipped away quietly one year.

Slowly
on soft feet, one step at a time.
Those delicate crunches underfoot
almost too slight to hear
by all but nervous birds,
bucks and does.

She, shrinking into the bark.
She, disappearing into patterns, 
becoming the forest,
melting into gray snow. 

As she morphs,
as she hides,
her name transforms with her. 

She’s finally coming home. 

Her name, once waiting stoically in the valley; 
her name behind the cattle barns 
and grain silos.

Her name, now under night stars;
resting beneath the winter canopy
among the greens and browns,
whites and blue-grays. 

She, once hidden in the valley,
now wrapped in moonlight and song;
curling tendril branches into gentle circles
where tired birds may safely rest.

January 29 to February 24, 2026