Illustration by Gisela Levy
on all fours, i crawl
into the forest
to shiver asleep on pine needles
when light shines me awake
i spread my hands wide:
the moss that creeps
up my fingernails
is soft on my cheeks;
my eyelids warm
under the sun
as lichen blooms on my brow
i know my wounds are still
dripping sticky with sap
here is where i come to lick them—
become a fir
maybe a pine this time
the deer do not freeze,
but step wide eyed through sunlit paths
and lay to rest, as i do.
Anne Overton (BC '23; she/her/hers) is a Psychology & English major from California and Hawaii. She enjoys the water, meditation, and her pet rabbit. You can find her on Instagram @a.nneloverton.