I’ve always felt most at home
Amongst the trees—
The ground has never managed to
Lift me up when I’m low
While the sky feels like
It’s far too out of reach.

When my world feels lost
In black-and-white melancholy
I climb those sturdy giants
Turn my face towards the clouds
Close my eyes tight
And watch life unfold.

“Alone” is not a word in
My vocabulary when I’m here
Though it’s just me and the trees
I am connected to them in every way.
They’ve shown me how to let go
In the most beautiful way

How to stand tall even when
People try to cut me down
How to let the light in
Even when it all feels so dark.

I want my veins to run
Deep into the earth like roots
Watch my limbs grow
Strong like its sturdiest branches
As my hair dances in a wind
That’s also courting
More delicate twigs.

And one day—
When the tree and me are no
Longer here—I hope
My fingerprints dot this
Landscape like tree rings
Just to say
We were here.

Erica Abbott has been published or has work forthcoming in Toho Journal, perhappened, and Flora Fiction. She will be releasing her first poetry chapbook “Self Portrait as a Sinking Ship” this year. Find her on Instagram @poetry_erica and on Twitter @erica_abbott.