i.
we drove north
on highway six
the night a perfect black
close about us with
neither moon nor stars
to shine their light and
cut the darkness

ii.
the pines hovered at the very
edge of the narrow road
making a long, dark tunnel
when, after a curve
just north of Nisswa,
we emerged suddenly
in to a birch stand

iii.
the car lights caught
the white birch bark
which reflected the light
an eerie white stand
of bright, white birch
in a pitch black night
the trees on either side
rising in a gentle *****

iv.
i heard the breath catch
in every passenger
and then, just as
suddenly, we are
come upon an
automobile accident

v.
the glitter of broken
windshield glass
flashed in the car
headlights as i stop
a car had wrapped
about a pole, the
driver's door open

vi.
soon, the drama was over
we got in the car to drive home
the whine of the tires on road
filled the silent cabin
the white lines of the road
the white birch trees with
their black shadows
the far-away moon in
the sky exactly over the road,
seemed now living their own life
apart and incomprehensible,
yet very near to man

vii.
it was the beginning of April
after a warm spring day
the night had cooled
a faint touch of frost fell
the breath of spring
felt in the soft, chilly air
the highway ran endlessly
through the northern woods

viii.
on both sides of the road
the night was lit by the
the headlights and birch trees
in the brilliant, peaceful
moonlight night
and all were silent
sunk in thought
everything around seemed
kindly, youthful, akin,
everything--trees and sky,
and even the moon,
and one longed to think
that so it would be always.