4/14/25: nocturnal forestry

 Had to wait until later in the day to get this one together. Here's the prompt. Here's a poem from Gabrielle Bates because she is great.

single gasp, swirl like
a distant, muted howl,
wind,
crack of old forest
        leaf skittering
gather    and claw
the ground with 
    gentle, sandpapered
edges.        rock dislodged
rolling
              away, more following now.
another gust and a symphony of 
flailing branches. somewhere, 
a single plunk into the river.
                silent ripplings. in
between the wind and adjustments
nothing makes itself known.