Shrunken

Ranges of vertiginous mountains Banked in serried steps, loom close, Held from smashing down the slopes By a line of credible wooded hills. Hilly summits brushed with backlit mist. Trees, naked on the bronze-flaked earth, Standing like abandoned Guardsmen, Gradually dissolve into veils of light. Diffused by cloud, the sunlight smothers, Covers the forest with a blind blanket, Muffling the senses, shrinking perspective, 'til dead trees and leaves are all we know.