A branch snapped nearby, sharp as a cry,

The night held its breath, no stars in the sky.

Something was near, unseen yet aware,

I froze where I stood, caught in its stare.

--

A whisper then called from the depths of the trees

,Soft as the sigh of a wandering breeze.

“Follow,” it beckoned, both tender and dire,

Its voice like the crackle of ember and fire.

--

The trees bowed and swayed to the song of the storm,

Ancient and endless, both fierce and warm.

The earth seemed to hum with a heartbeat below,

A rhythm of secrets the moon long ago.

--

Alone in the dark, my thoughts came alive,

The ghosts of my past began to revive.

Each whisper and echo, a memory’s call,

In the stillness I faced the weight of it all.