Days Like These

I like the tangled brakes and briers, The hazy smoke of forest fires; The misty hills’ soft robe of brown, The ravished fields’ regretful frown: The wrinkled road’s unconscious snare, The free, unbreathed and fragrant air. I like the wide, unworried sky, The resting wind’s contented sigh; The rustle of the vagrant leaves, The whisper in the standing sheaves; The birds’ lament for summer lost, The stinging challenge of the frost. The sturdy life of stalwart trees Thrills in my veins on days like these!