twenty-four hours
in which everything could change —
so fragile, so weak;
we act as conquerors, but
in hiding, depose ourselves.

amid the heat, we
lay on the floor, defeated —
dry lightning crackles;
new challenges every year,
and our future still to come.

we seek to forget
all our broken promises
as the days go on;
now, I wonder if ever
they meant anything at all.

beneath umbrellas
people who gather, alone
now finding power;
because the whole is more than
simply the sum of its parts…

waiting for the day
when we can meet again, I
feel the hours pass;
slipping through my fingers, these
moments I cannot regain.

ringing in my ears
drives out all thoughts and feelings —
a river made clean;
sometimes we don’t realize
just how empty we must be.

with no storm in sight,
the cloud cover only grows —
waiting for nothing;
we gaze up at our own skies,
searching for a better time.

gradients of light
bathe our nightly memories —
never to return;
I promised to let you go,
and yet the known times have changed.

at this time of year,
the hummingbirds start to dance
and the bluebirds call;
hidden within our cities,
the patterns of yesterday.