Out of the woods

Deep, deep in the woods
is where I was left
A remote part of the forest where you can only hear whispers
but not make out the words

A dense canopy overhead
Not a ray of light would dare travel so far or so low
as to find me

I knew I wasn’t alone
but I felt so far from where the people were living
in quaint little houses
Civilized
Together with their put-together families

There I stood
eyes wide
sensing danger around each corner
I’d be eaten if I stayed still much longer
Sure, it would be an easier route out of here
And yet, if I had to choose to eat or get eaten
I wouldn’t become someone’s meal
to be chewed on and spit out

When you lose one of your senses
you aren’t left defenseless
Because, you see, the others wake up out of sheer necessity

Would you be surprised if I told you
the first one I leaned into
was touch?

When felled trees were left to rot
they became the deadwood I stepped over
never to meet again

I learned to feel for the trees with sturdy roots
standing firmly
Their branches greeting and guiding me
to the next

The forest was full of chatter
Too loud
It felt deafening

Every wild animal, it seemed, had something to say about me
“You’re wrong,” I said, at once
Startled by the sound of my own voice
It sounded louder than it ever had before
Stronger
Less shaky
And that’s when they quieted down and
allowed me to hear my inner teacher instead

I’d like to say I stumbled upon some wild berries to munch on
But I wasn’t hungry
never hungry
until
from the distant houses
came the perfect breeze
The smell of bread baking
coffee brewing
made by those perfect people I imagined in their perfect little houses

However, as I inched closer
their words become more distinct
and they weren’t always happy, or perfect, but had real conversations
I could hear their loss and regret and heartache

They were just like me
I wasn’t proud to be eve’s dropping
But I knew then I wasn’t alone
People everywhere in all the houses are struggling
Like me

And so I became hungry for life again
I looked up, eyes forward, instead of behind me
where I could finally see one ray at first, then another, and another
A well-lit path away from past darkness