Forest

I changed my mind! I was too hasty on the submit button.

I want to call this one...

A WOODY SUSSURRATION

Walking through the forest, hardly making any sound

Except for my heart beating and my footsteps on the ground.

Last year's leaves crunch unctiously beneath my steady tread

Sending up rich scents of leafmould from the forest's sumptious bed

The day is gently warming to kiss away spring's bite

Like the summer days before me, the path is warm and bright

A perfect day and place to walk, sun balanced to wind and shade

Or rest a while on springy turf in a secluded glade

Sunlight dappled through the leaves, I'm doused in green and gold

To my left a bluebell carpet has been expertly unrolled

Tended by a buzzing bee, collecting taxes for her queen

Scent of rain still lingers, and the air tastes fresh and clean

The tickle of the grass against my apricated skin

Not to linger languorously would be nothing short of sin

Against my cheek the gentle breath of early May's sweet sigh

Need I even tell you how flawless blue the sky?

Striking veins of pure azure in the canopy above

Serenaded by chaffinches and a nesting collared dove

If I listen hard enough, I can even hear the sound

Of tiny scurrying insects staying busy all around

Rustling leafy branches; a whispered catspaw breeze

A hungry drumming woodpecker hidden somewhere in the trees

The woody sussurration is a soft and healing balm

Something in me smiling, stilling. I'm renewed. I feel calm.

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I first wrote this poem when I was maybe nine years old. Apart from the general sentiment and the first two lines, it is a total re-write. I wish I had saved the original, but it was stained with embarrassment for me, because the headteacher read it out during assembly to the entire school. At the time, it was both the best and worst moment of my life. I have never felt so proud and yet wanted to be immediately abducted by aliens at the same time.

I still think the first two lines are the best. I was a much better poet at nine. Maybe I should never have stopped.

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I've done another entry for the Sensational challenge - let me know what you think. Which is better?