In Night's Silence

In night's silence, the rain departed,
Leaving veins of vapor curled
Upon the Winter woods, water slowly dripping
From branches leafless and stiff
And slipping off slick evergreens.
The forest's intersperséd spaces seem
Witness to the young black bear,
Launched too soon from his mother's lair,
Wandering in afterstorm's dim light,
Passing by my cultivated hives,
Whose monkish bees slumber in their cells
Waiting for Spring's morning bells.

[Bluefield WV, by evansdje99 at iwitness.weather.com]