By QUINCY SMITH

Roads that lead nowhere
Cracked pavement snaps open under my toes

The trees bark at me
The leaves are still falling

My breath is shallow
A whisper

People cross paths
The skin on their arms only separated by pain

Electricity dances between us
This noticing of life

Catches onto my vision
Like a parasite in shallow seas

I look down to the ground
And see brimstone

I look across the grass
And see God

Suddenly the forest starts to close in
My lungs crash against my chest

I blink and they’re still walking
I look and I’m still screaming

Quincy Smith ’25 is a staff writer
qsmith25@amherst.edu