I go to the woods to feel safe;

when I know, alone,

walking deeper until I’m lost,

I am little Red to the Wolf.

Still, my heart rests.

It doesn’t switch between

fight or flight like it does

in the moment I approach

a bus stop full of people

and cross to the other street.

 

I keep my ear buds in

with no music on

and wrap my coat even tighter

around me, and I feel

nothing and I hear

everything.

 

A squirrel shaking an acorn

or anything it can get its hands on.

Birds pottering about in the shrubs

or fussing over nests in the tree tops.

The wind, or the soft patter of rain

through the sparse canopy.

Barks in the distance

and the squeaks of swings.

Ripples in the lake

and the trickling of a stream.

My footsteps, flat footed

yet small.

The movement of cloud,

the twinkling sound sunlight

makes as it falls through.

The earth. The creaks

as it moves and the groaning

of roots.

My breathing,

my heartbeat

and my stillness

even though I am walking.

 

I do not feel

the thoughts which haunt me.

I let go, unconsciously.

I am conscious only

to the world around me

and I am thankful

for its willingness

to include me.

 

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© Kristiana Reed 2019