The Deep End of the Woods

I walked in the forest

in my old shoes that didn't fit me anymore.

It gave me blisters and broke my feet

so I abandoned them in the shrubs.

I carried a ragged map

but the road less taken was overgrown.

I had to cut my way forward

not knowing where it lead.

~

I don't even remember

when she slipped off my shoulders

and became a ghost—

dissolved behind me

as I forced my way through the bush.

~

Her whisper still echoes,

it clings to me like perfume to

my favorite sweater I never wear anymore.

It makes me wonder who she could

have become —

the girl I used to be.

~

But she's no longer with me,

nor the girl I'm becoming.

I can sense her watchful gaze,

like a shy deer — hiding in the treeline

while I march onward on the unlit path

I carved out for myself.

~

And so many times

I thought about turning back,

or hoping that one day I’ll arrive,

though I don’t know

who waits at the end.

Not her,

not me—

someone I haven’t

yet—