Morning twilight touched the beauty of the forest
As the cardinal flew open with song
The silence of mother nature began to awake
The needles of the trembling pines falling on the fresh, crisp snow
The fox scurrying from his lair
The hare from his den
The deer stepping out of her meadow
The pike bobbing in the icy brook
Perched on the mighty oak,
the Great White Owl called an assembly
The creatures of glade gathered far and wide
to hear what he had to say
Some earthen souls were mortal, some were not
Some were of legend and lore
Soon a medieval menagerie of celtic wonder had gathered
And the Great Owl delivered his decree
On the shortest day of Winter
When the Earth was asleep with the moon
The forest would rejoice with celebration
As the marriage between light and dark would take place
The day was spent in merriment as woodland games were played
A gopher snowball fight
A squirrel cross country race
Glee and laughter hung in the air
Then the sun began to fade
As the shadows covered the ground
A light snow began to fall
As twilight met the night
The tree fairies strung up their garland
The wood nymphs with their lanterns to burn
The gnomes with their sparkling things to hang
All ready for the ancient jubilee
Each animal brought their share
To exchange in the deep winter feast
A menu of nature’s bounty
For all to enjoy their fill
Then the ancient mare of the forest came
As all the creatures bowed
Her magical horn pointed to the heavens
Then beamed light all abound
The trees became lit with colors
The snow sparling with silvers and golds
The animals gathered around the fire hearth
All in harmony ready to sing
They sang about the world’s creation
About the rivers and glens
About the leaves and flowers
And the thanksgiving of this perfect scene
The great owl mused from his perched high top
He knew centuries from now would be the same
A winter celebration would always take place
And the whole world forever would sing