Conversations by Gina Roen

Somber clouds grumble above, as if to say, “You can’t ignore me!” The arms of firs whisper in the wind, a hollow tune in a minor key. Broken branches punctuate the path, laying bare a storm’s passing. Defiant patches of icy whiteness echo winter’s cry, “You can’t defeat me!” Camouflaged deer hunker down, their eyes willing, “You don’t see me.” Twittering birds challenge the squirrels: “You can’t catch me!” Fleeting shadows mark the passage of time and place as the conversations among the oaks harken a long-awaited change. Daffodils peek through the sodden leaves and proclaim, “You can’t stop me!” Spring!