like a girl (2025—)
-
she sits and waits, watching the world
spin by around her.
motionless, paralyzed, statuesque innocence
frozen within salt and spray.
her only sins - wonder and curiosity,
fascination with a forbidden world -
a cautionary tale of the consequences
of curiosity and of daring to dream.
where do weather-worn wishes go,
once they’re realized?
what remains, once reality has
tarnished that shining somehow?
ask her all you may -
she knows, but she cannot say. -
rise, girl. rage
ravenously. strike
and shatter the ceiling they
cast to keep you contained.
try as they might,
they cannot hold you down.
shed the spare slipper and
run - you do not need to
wait for a prince to make
you a matched pair.scream, girl. raise
your voice above the
commotion they cause
to keep you quiet.
try as they might,
they cannot drown your truth.
break the mirror and
fly - the reflection of
perfection that cages you in
is merely a mirage.fight, girl. scatter
the shards of the
unrealistic expectations
they project over you.
try as they might,
they cannot break your spirit.
strive - shoot for the
stars, and you will find
your place among them,
bright and shining. -
ashes to ashes, dust to dust -
an endless endeavor, this process of trust.
cycling cynicism, dabbling in doubt,
spiraling certainty seeping throughout
every action, each thought, word, and deed,
trying to translate this heart’s deepest need.
drawing from empty that eats at the core
of self-actuality, life demands more
than i can provide. here, a trail of smoke
signals the spread of the burn that awoke
after too many nights living lit at both ends.
with the weight of exhaustion, everything bends
and slips from my grasp. yet, i must give more
to this fullest of lives. i shall not keep score,
but continue to push through this bushfire haze
that covers the promise of new, brighter days.
so i will submit to the blaze, as i must,
to rise, born refreshed, from the ash and the dust.
