Night forests

Forests of the night

Cicada-zither, rain-rustle lullaby
Sink slowly into green dreams,
Tendril senses teasing the evening's
Edge
Here, all is lush, calm, voluptuous,
Verdant
Or seems to be, by the forest verge
Where the sleek river slips so easily
Away from the chattering cascade.

Swaying, sinuous, an anaconda undulates underwater, upstream,
Emerges with no urgency
And sees what it sees,
Appraisingly tongue-tip tastes the humid air
Perfused with the perfume of a million lurid blooms,
Musky, dank with leaf mould
And bearing the bell notes of unseen birds
Up in the canopy world of sunshine.
No prey here, move on.

In the underworld, drooping lianas bind and tangle,
Festoon even the strangler fig,
Botanical constrictor,
Straitjacket bole fused from striving stems.
Sensuous fruits ooze sweet secretions,
Offset the loss of the tree within.

Come together, right now, over me.