Tennessee Winter Light

Today I walked
In the Tennessee winter
White light dove through bits of the forest
Revealing lanky neutral colored tree trunks
That stood like adolescent boys
Thin and absent,
Awaiting the maturation of spring
My footsteps stepped over
Dark horizontal shadow bars
Lining the naked forest
While a lone duck glided through the lake
Leaving only a delicate ripple behind
The path bent and turned
Leading to effervescent, jumping light
Coming off the lake from in between the trees
Blinding the eyes
As the night fell
the beaver
Dared to swim out in the open