there is a modest
one-story home
with white stucco walls
and a red tiled roof
waiting for me somewhere
near a floridian beach.

the yard is flat and dry.
some days, i’ll lie there
on top of a patterned quilt
in a two-piece
hand over brow
reading a thick memoir
on loan from the library
that sits on the other side
of the brush, beyond
the wooden fence.

winter will just be a memory.
every week, my toenails
will sink into the sand
wearing a different shade of pink.
i will not fold away
my sundresses and shove them
under the bed.
they will only leave
their wooden hangers
to be worn and washed.

time simply records the falling
and growing and falling of things.
one of these days,
i will be the budding lily
pushing up dirt
to greet the other side with
all of the beauty
i am ready to be.

i have fallen enough.

We were one
My one life
And my other
Unaware of each other
But then the world broke
And showed to me
That I shouldn't be happy
I'll only run away

It's not over

Now I'm lost
My other life
Devoured the one
Protective walls toppled down
Because when the world broke
It was revealed to me
I shouldn't be happy
But still I fight
No longer running away

It's not over
Until I smolder

Manifest Destiny
How dare you break me
When I deserve to be happy
How dare you do this to me
Erase all trace of normalcy
In my life

It's not over
Until I smolder
The life

Manifest Destiny
Please forgive me
I won't fall early
Manifest Destiny
Don't embrace me
Just keep me safe from normalcy
Entering my life

It's not over
Until I smolder
The life
But, I lost

There are days I dream and feel like an imposter

until I remember we’re all imposters living in unrealized dreams.