Where her heart had cracked, she believed it broke.

Swept away by the breezes that ruffled the wood

She’d trekked through in her own front yard

Her hands would slide along scarred bark

Where the splinters pierced her flesh 

When all she’d touched was palm

 

When she felt the pain, it didn’t stop her

For she thought it made her indestructible to love

And feel what stars must feel when they burn and light the night

For she was attracted to a space where darkness towers 

Like trees with foliage dripping dew

And crickets that sound only when she’s near

 

She never wondered why she loved 

The forest when submerged in dusk

Perhaps it was the glimmer that shone 

Just before the night would caress and conceal her

Or before it would say to her

“You will always come back to me.”

 

She never strayed too far from the purple blossoms

That unfolded as the moonlight blanched their petals 

Shivers numbed her flesh when the ghosts would haunt 

Cornering her between the bushes and a bark wall––

She wouldn’t leave no matter reality or recollection

Until nightshade pricked her flesh and she bled ink

 

And day never turned to that consuming velvet black 

And the yard never turned into columns of tangled leaves

But the idea of climbing the trees to become the moon

And disregard the sun and day

Was a dream to shine in that darkness

And make her heart feel whole once more.