Forest Floor

What a wonder it is to walk
Along a path that leads us
So easily through this wet fall forest
All the leaves have fallen
A brown and yellow carpet
Hides the gravel trail
From our searching seeking eyes
But not at all from 3 dog noses
The forest feels quiet now
Nearly all the leaves are down
Their summer songs drowned and still
But never forgotten it seems
I think of salmon today
Like the leaves they lay down their bodies
To nourish the land through winter’s sleep
And emerge anew next spring