The Woods

I walked in the woods tired but unafraid. There was a shrub with berries and I was hungry. I touched a small branch and the shrub broke in half. I tried to touch a tree and it happened again. I thought what if in the beginning God ruined everything. I walked on the small path lined with stones. There were other paths that were wider and lined by rocks or there was the grass which seemed not to come from the ground. I wanted to touch the ground and thought I won’t ruin this piece of earth today. I walked with my hands in my pockets. There was a giant weeping willow and I stopped to stare. A woman sat in the topmost branch and it drooped under her beautiful weight. She said together we will fix things. I wanted to climb this tree. I looked at it and her and cried.









Sarah Dravec is a graduate student in the NEOMFA in Akron, Ohio, where she studies poetry. She is a poetry editor for Barn Owl Review. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in And/Or, The Bakery, Dressing Room Poetry Journal, and Josephine Quarterly.