the ferns whisper
the ferns whisper
'get out while you can'
the leaves swish
Death glides past
untouched by time
drip
drip
drip
the soil drinks deeply
never thinking of what it swallowed
the moss lays untouched
until an unfortunate soul
steps in, their breath catches
their head rolls
but they keep walking
determined to find her,
the one they lost to the forest
but soon,
the forest wins
they collapse
and join her
in an afterlife
that never was
Something wrong with this poem?
Replies are closed for this poem.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you are not alone.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988, 24/7. Crisis Text Line — text HELLO to 741741.
▾ This Poem's Voice
Your Poem's Voice
Balances personal loss with abstract mortality and forest as philosophical space.
Dense compression of multiple ideas: warning, death, obsession, collapse, all within brief lines.
Strongly negative: death, despair, loss, futility dominate throughout.
Explosive bursts via fragmented syntax, onomatopoeia (drip), urgent movement and collapse.
Approximately 25 lines; falls in 16-30 range.
Rich personification (ferns whisper, forest wins, soil drinks), metaphor of forest as death-trap.
Primarily lyric with embedded narrative of lost lover; moves toward dramatic as story unfolds.
Comments (0)
Comments are closed for this poem.