Forest Fingers
by Addyson Douglas
Tree wears a dress of wishes,
twirling trunks and luscious leaves.
The green you show to lovers
in a world you need not change.
Unsure of fate to weapon or wind,
tree stands in the mind of neither.
There’s too much air to be cast,
to brush lungs with sweet vitality.
Life to show the forest fingers
will never be claws.
Tree welcomes home the animals
to kiss them goodnight.
The claws of greed echo in their declining distance.
Sky cries, tree stands,
forest fingers holds hand with cloud.
Love the day, love the last.
Tree asks not of incomparable afterlives.
Mind of neither
Mind of neither
Mind of.
Vulnerable Fall
by Bella Melardi
Vulnerable fall
Trees tackle me
As I tumble into my thoughts
Leaves lay me down
The sky is an empty box
And my body is too full
Full of blood
Full of water
How many apples
Can fit in a sack of skin
Scarred by stretch marks
I am cold
The weather is getting old
Shivering on my fingertips
I climb trees
Just for leaves to fall
Leaving me with no walls
I am out in the open
Leaving me susceptible
To a vulnerable fall
But then I do
by Bella Melardi
You tremble in the cold air
The sky sneezes
Shaking the trees with the bloody leaves
I want to stay here
Your hair the colour of the mockingbirds song
Your lips are crystal caverns
I dig my teeth into
I want to be amongst you
Even if it hurts me
The carcasses of leaves scatter the floor
I break bones as I walk on them
Hearing the snapping of their ligaments
I want to feel I say
But I don’t want to feel I say
The price of understanding how to feel
Is feelings you sometimes don’t understand
The sky begins to fall
In my skin I feel nothing at all
But then I do