No one hears the snaps
and no one sees the snow
tumble with the falling branch.
Freezing rain is so light;
it is silent to all around.
The sound starts when you
move your feet. The trees
don’t listen. They struggle
under the weight trying —
once again — to hold up the world.
The forest oozes a sense of failure.
No one can hold this up.
Some reckoning with life
vanishes. There is a dying,
and the snow keeps falling.
What am I doing in this world?
Everything leans away.
Forward is wrong.
Backward is wrong.
I cannot stay where I am.
I see something and do not move.
I see nothing and do not move.
Any motion kills the silence.
The forest does not care if I move or breathe.
Yet the silence cannot hide the fact…
Things are breaking in the forest.
— Anthony Signorelli
January, 2023