DEEP FOREST - 8OZ

You were deeper in than this. The path was narrower. There was no path. Eucalyptus cuts through the confusion... that part is real, though it shouldn't be here. Balsam from one hemisphere, cypress from another, juniper that belongs elsewhere entirely. Your mind assembles a forest that cannot exist. The air sharpens, then sweetens. An apple you may have carried, or imagined carrying. Pine resin thickens your thoughts. Moss rises where you don't remember stepping. Cinnamon bark appears like delirium, warm against the cold clarity of what surrounds you. The trees are from everywhere and nowhere. What remains is the feeling of being lost, whether or not you ever found your way out.