the moss climbed the gnarled trees, treetops lined with canopies of wild vines threaded with pearly raindrops. little kodamas clicked their heads as they basked in the morning dawn on the tree branches. the wind blew the foliage until it rocked like an ocean of deep green.

the forest was alive

a dying star was falling toward the forest

and the forest screamed

we won't catch you.
you'll land a speck of
sand and die a pile of
dust unless you let 
yourself
go
and
e x p l o d e