Entering the Forest
by Kayla Cannon
She steps from world to world—
Tree roots grasp her ankles,
twine up through her limbs,
fill her with sun-sweet sap.
—Come in, deeper, deeper.
Here, dryads dwell
wrapped in grey and russet shadow-cloaks.
Light flows like water.
Shade pools in the hollows.
Deer swim in silence while squirrels splash.
Roots thread around the girl’s lungs.
She breathes in liquid sunlight
and movement becomes song.
Every leaf sings.
Moss here is older than the Earth.
Trees remember times before the sun,
memories deeper, deeper.
Little sister, they call her
as silk roots hug her round.
—Come deeper,
deeper,
deeper.
If you leave, you’ll drown.