Split Oak Forest
3. The Forest
by Ken Ailsworth

To those who have found themselves in a dark wood
And to the split oaks

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita. Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura!

In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost. Ah how hard to say what a hard thing was that wood savage and rough and hard that to think about it renews the fear!

Dante, Inferno, first lines.