Anatomy of the Forest
by Star Zuniga
University of the Incarnate Word
Star Zuniga is a senior at the University of Incarnate Word who is a double-major in Theatre Arts and English. Due to her graduating this Spring of 2024, Star’s story is that she is striving to continue her education with an MA in Creative Writing (and eventually a PhD), and aspires to continue writing for the rest of her life!
Shuffling through the bushes, fumbling through the long thick branches of oak, with roots
deep in the depths of the ancient soil.
You’re lost deep in the body of the woods.
Crunch
Crack
Snap
Searching through the muscle of moss that infest the
evergreen trees, swatting the bugs that buzz around your eardrums and the cells of birds that bat at your eyelashes.
You’re lost in the framework of the woods.
Chatter
Chirp
Cuckoo
Piercing through the flesh of the oak leaves, untangling yourself from the veins of the vines that encompass its host, stomping through the bones of the twigs you’ve previously cracked.
You’ve finally begun to remember the shape of the forest.
Shuffle
Whizz
Whoosh
Familiarity reaches your senses as you feel your way through the
rough cartilage of the oak trunks, moving towards the end of the system of arteries of trees, finally stopping at a familiar sight of your camp.
Breathe, you’ve navigated your way through the anatomy of the forest.
