Deep Roots, Dark Forests

By Vanessa K. Eccles

Deep Roots, Dark Forests explores the unseen, the unnoticed, and the uncared for in our lives. It's the simple everyday things that are the most fascinating—the flowers, the forest, the decaying architecture in an old southern town. It's the silent, quick blooms of an azalea, the big, pure magnolia blossoms, and the wide roots of a live oak that capture the attention here.

 

And there's also the fictitious melodies that whisper while amongst the trees or sipping morning coffee that makes their way into the collection. This is a record of the quiet moments and the loud ones, times when we feel haunted and at peace, and all the in-between. This isn't a work of fiction or of fact. These poems along with the photography embody a mix of truth and untruth—stories told from a slant.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fabled Collective
• Release date: Apr 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393938699

Book preview

Shadow Walking

Today, she walked

among the shadows.

Her steps taking her

deeper and deeper still

through her world’s

forgotten spaces—

---

the abandoned homes,

the lost stories,

the dusty corners

that fill the past.

---

She seeks to be a voice

for the whispers

she hears as she tours

the once grand

but now forlorn

spaces in the shadows.

Scattered Roots

Magnolia roots scatter

in every direction,

shallow fingers

hugging dark dirt,

small wandering arms

reaching for something

unknown—

something to grab onto

to clasp

to make its own.

---

I am those roots.

Keeping Waves

It was the waves that kept us,

feet in sand,

hair whipping in the coming storm.

We felt grounded there

like the tall oaks—

roots dug deep into

the wet dark dirt.

The gray skies boomed

in the distance.

But our two hearts

beat