Shownotes
The Forest
Maria Beben
We tasted the ache
like a familiar cocktail,
one we hoped
to never drink again.
We took a branch
that posed a danger
and added more kindling,
looking around for anything that would burn.
We gathered and added
until the branch became a forest
and we couldn’t see through
to the other side.
We felt betrayed
and confused
and didn’t understand how we got there.
We stood on opposite ends of this forest
and felt the weight
of a growing terror.
But at the exact moment
when we reached for a box of matches
to burn it all down,
we remembered that trees have branches
and began to climb.
From the top,
in the clear, crisp air,
we could see
that the forest wasn’t a forest at all
just a few trees
that we could help each other
navigate through.
So we climbed back down
and cleared the weeds
and made a path
and together,
celebrated the trees for what they were
before walking out the other side —
Together.
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One Poem Only submissions are open.
This round, I’m looking for poems about what remains. What stays with us when we experience change? What survives? What do we yearn to carry forward? Send me the poem you wrote and want the world to hear. Also, if you’d like to read your own poem on the podcast, you can. Submit a clear audio file recorded in a quiet space—no perfect studio recording required. And yes, your poem can have been previously published in a literary magazine, in print, or on social media. Submissions close Thursday, October 29. I’ll respond by Wednesday, November 11. Whether I read your poem or you read it yourself, I’d love to hear what you have to share.
One Poem Only Submissions Form
