aokigahara

deadwood on a silent shore
the crack of daylight on her face
says maybe she won’t want to die
one day

ever unsure
unable to see tomorrow
yonder rot & spore
& chokehold of black trees

the war in her brain
can anything numb the pain
thunderclouds or amnesty
they say the forecast is up to she
dumbly she hangs ‘tween root & limb
awaiting the rain

ever unsure
the marrow’s in the morrow
this is what they say
but hope is a blithe man’s game

deadwood on a silent shore
she doesn’t know how to be
defiled she hangs lightly
for another day

Aokigahara

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

eggshells & darker nights

a slip of flame wags like a red-tailed fox
o’er candlewick sill in the moonlight box
sets ghost birds aflight in lucent flocks
o’er vespertine forest and druidic rocks

the road yonder runs thither throughout the ages
its footprints tell the story of hatchling sages
from trees bedangled with their birthing cages
open, in spirals, zig-zagging in stages

no questions, no answers, just a mystery play
of knotted roots, weaved wood and branching splay
and the thin, shrill cry of a sleepless jay
from dusk covered verdure and vertebrae

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2021

the secret life of boots

a tired boot lies on the sill
hangs out its tongue like an old dhole
snores and twitches a dirty sole
with a dried-on daffodil

it dreams of untrodden routes
long forest walks, steep mountain trails
and how it tells bedtime tall tales
to gaped-in-awe puppy-boots

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2018

GUEST POST // My Forest by Purple Creature

Walking in my forest, huge trees are blocking the light,
I am walking, and now cannot see.
I hear creatures stirring on the forest floor,
Crawling over my feet, hissing in my ear, they are all around me,
I fucking fear…

My heart is racing, my fear is growing,
I want to run, so fast, I can’t think straight,
I want to leave this God forsaken place, as fast as I can.
I am alone, I am bruised and battered, I cannot win this fight.
I have done this to myself, for I have walked into the forest willingly,
Knowing what the forest beholds…

Ego… self-righteousness, false confidence,
call it what the Fuck you want,
I am here now, me, in the darkness, in the forest…
Dealing with it… badly.
More creatures, of all shapes and sizes are coming out.
Noises are getting louder, hisses, are getting louder…
The forest is alive I realize, a breathing, living being of blackness,
Tears are its food, Fear is its oxygen.

Then, in the distance, I see a faint light, fluttering in the forest.
It’s waiting for me, calling for me, like a beacon in the night…
Has it always been here… Have I just been blinded by my despair,
That I haven’t seen what has been in front of me, all this time…
I concentrate on the light, and follow it through the forest,
ignoring all else…
It’s just me and the light…
Before I know it, I am out of the forest and into the light,
with cascading waterfalls,
And beautiful flowers and colors everywhere…

The light, I realized, is the most beautiful, colorful, exotic,
butterfly I have ever seen,
The butterfly gazed at me one last time, smiled, winked at me,
and flew away, into the sky.

A single tear formed in my eye, and over flowed down my cheek.
Thank you, sweet butterfly,
For waiting for me,
For staying with me,
For guiding me out of my despair… out of my forest.

by PURPLE CREATURE
© All rights reserved 2015