"Deforestation" is a poem written after Sandy Ridge Reservation, a small marshland 22 miles outside of Cleveland, Ohio. The marshland is surrounded by home developments. The day this poem came to life, I was bird-watching. Through my binoculars, I could see - between the small opening of trees - construction workers taking down trees near a slew of newly built homes. Initially, "Deforestation" was going to be recorded at Sandy Ridge, but as I navigated my way to the interstate, I passed the lake and felt moved to recite the poem before a body of water. Lake Erie is where I developed the hobby of bird-watching.

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Jason Harris is an American writer. His interests include listening to true crime podcasts, practicing negative visualization, revision, and finding associative links between disparate ideas. He is a Graduate Poetry Fellow of The Watering Hole. He is also the 2021 Barbara Smith Writer-in-Residence at Twelve Literary Arts. His first poetry collection is forthcoming. To read more of Jason's work, you may visit his website: jasonharriswriter.com.