Standing alone in the heart of the forest
A woman found a hollow tree
A canopy of leaves and gnarled roots
But no center
She’d come looking for a distraction
Somewhere different then where she’d been
Wind blew through the trunk
But did not whistle in the leaves
As she knocked on it’s stern, she felt it beneath her feet
She looked in, and all the trees around grew still and strained
In the past they’d whispered amongst each other
Rumoring and worrying
Yet the hollow tree had stood stoic and silent
They’d go about their business
Forgoing the conversation but not forgetting
Breaking out again when the wind blew their branches into it
It’s canopy unyielding and unresponsive
The woman gazed at the hollow tree
Her gaze finding the hole in its trunk
Earth shifted as the roots of the other tress curled
As her head entered the hole, the wind halted in fear
The hollow tree remained still
Only as she pulled her waist through did the trees wish they could stop her
Long after the last inch of her had disappeared did they remain silent
As people combed the woods looking for her
The forest remained silent
Long after those who remembered were forgotten
The forest remained silent
Eventually even the trees forgot
If they could have remembered her descent
They chose not to
Among all the people and the trees, she occupied no thought
In her home and the heart of the forest she was forgotten
Except of course, by one
The hollow tree
