The storm brewed,
Then lightning struck,
And the structures that once stood tall,
Crumbled to the ground.

You could hear an echoing gasp
Stretch out from the audience all around
Never expecting such destruction from beauty.

She laid in the rubble
Cause by her own building tempest,
Feeling as broken as the foundation she had built.
No longer sure of her actions, words, or thoughts.

She lacked an ability to restore and rebuild.
To rebound from the catastrophe crumbling beneath her body.
She bleed and she cried and she lay exposed and raw.
Having sacrificed more than her soul could give,
She suffered the ramifications in the most cataclysmic way.

Though as the storm rolled through,
Rain fell from the once damaging clouds.
Showering her broken body,
And washing away the debris and dust of a broken life.

The sun peaked through dappling her in light,
Blinding her with the promises of what could be.
She felt her fragile body healing,
Closing the fissures that had opened, leaving only scars.
And with shaking breath,
And tentative legs,
She stood.
ALC April 10, 2023