First // Burst

Let the dams burst.

Lament the beauty,

both seen and unseen.

Let each tear pay tribute

to longings unlived.

Flood this city with your love-stained grief,

grieve with loving fury.

Let shatter the life you imagined—

opalescent and unreachable.

Break your own waters,

rupture every floodgate.

And once you are drained, empty—

Be still.

Your eyes, these streets,

washed clear now, to see

how broken fragments catch the light

how your salted skin glitters.

Trace careful and curious fingers

through this sparking wreckage

There is a promise here.