Art by Kari Griffith

growing pains:

I said no quietly

when you left me with a vengeance

I never thought it wise to fight for what’s already dead.

I could have screamed

I could have shouted

I could have begged for you to stay

I could have shown you the tears that fell like anchors

carrying with them

my love for self.

but I wept in secrecy instead.

in my room until the ground could no longer support my tears and I fell through to another place

where flowers cry for blooming — despite the scorching sun.