As the Doe Awaits the Wildfire

i know there is something wrong here

the days are too warm and the sun feels like the sky

has a date with the desert

 

there are birds here

but these birds are flying away and i am stuck, one of the

flightless birds

 

the floor rustles and cracks

my body catches on dead branches

and twigs snap beneath my stone feet

 

i know there is something wrong here

the night is bright and the moon whispers

no ocean will tame the flames

 

-Olivia Caldwell

Olivia Caldwell is a Division II student at Hampshire College studying Poetry, Photography, and Sociocultural Anthropology. She is a pun enthusiast and cat mom who spends much of her time watching mid-2000s dramatic television and considering the fate of humanity. Her work can be found in Forest For The Trees Literary Journal and Enigma Literary Magazine.