an avoidant’s entry

Identifying myself as a tree, I stand rooted while my branches loosen, they burn. I watch from afar as they hit the ground, the sound deafening.

Each branch stores a segment of my being; fleeting in hopes of escaping the matrix. The flames catch up to my core, spine barely holding me upright as I wail for help, yet to no avail // my pleas crumble to ashes and you are nowhere to be found.

The ground beneath me wavers, ignited — I envision you breaking free from a generational curse, you are content and my fingertips are porcelain && freezing.

A mere witness to my own destruction isn’t enough. Despite low growls of disapproval emitting from the rest, I ensure to redirect the flames inwards, toward the stems; but you are now far gone.

Perhaps that is how it should be, you out of my peripheral and my whispers knotted // delayed && inevitable.