This forest is grief, tall and dense
It sinks sharp thorns into your skin
Its brambles tug at your clothes and catch your hair
And stinging nettles slow you to a lurch
And caked in mud, you crawl through thick briars
As scars you thought long healed
rip open
This forest is grief, 30 feet high
It casts its shadows across your face
The sunlight painting stripes through its leaves and its fauna
And you feel small and weak and scared
And warmed by the sun, you rise to your feet
As the scars that ripped open
let light in
This forest is grief, lush and green
It wraps you warm in its tangled weeds
Catching tears like dewdrops on thick branches and thistles
And those tears carve streams and ponds
And valleys, and it becomes beautiful
And you look back
to find a tended garden
And you walk on
And the forest walks with you
