clearing her throat before screaming to the trees
the moss buffering her cries
nowhere else did she feel so free
to sit and laugh and roll in the leaves

not a nymph or a sprite but a real human girl
finding solace in the forest all the same
on her own despite having some place in the world
but she never felt connections like this or felt heard

she reveled in the seasons and how she changed too
how vibrant then faded they all became
stalwart her tree friends, they listened, it’s true
closer she felt to the earth as they grew