Sleeping Naked Trees

Sleeping Naked Trees
This is life unguarded
The smallest of creatures
Feeding the rest

Cold is the day
And the trees
Sleep naked
In the frost

It is personal
The affront
To the cold
Shortened day

To be ignored
Should be the insult
But laughter and respect
Are prizes won
By tenacity

Coats are disintegrating
On the floor
Ready to feed
Another season

Hiding places
Gone
Stay alert
Stay alive

The rhythms change
Adjusting their clocks
To adapt to the strongest

Some things must prevail
Enduring the obstacles
Of jesting powers  

“Sleeping Naked Trees” – a free verse offering made by observations of nature. Personifications of trees, in their treatment of “the shortened   day” (winter also personified) are used to tell a broad story. There are consequences to the trees’ actions which is alluded to in “hiding places” and feeding (birds).
Ultimately, trees have outwitted winter’s attempts to cruelly persecute with cold. In a bold move to show its strength, trees not only survive, but shed their “coats”…scoffing at winter, and gaining its respect.