underfoot, under the metal spikes clamped to my boots, the many-times- trod-on icy trails of late winter lead me once again to the woods earth’s snow cover softens with melt the sun’s bright, the temp nears forty buds grip red-tinged branches willows gleam golden, in bare swaths flattened grasses twitch skyward the giant fallen trunks showcase yellow lichen, orange polypores knobby clumps of evergreen moss what seems black & white the winter long shimmers in spring’s prism