Still Burning

Sun rises like a slow exhale
Golden light finds the cracks I forgot to seal
Morning dew on my skin, cold the way honesty is cold

The birds won't wait for me to be ready
Coffee burns going down and I let it

The candle has been burning since before I stopped counting
Shadows move like they know something

Light comes through anyway
That's the part I can't explain
The breeze doesn't ask if I deserve it

I breathe because the body insists
The calm isn't peace
It's what's left after the fighting stops

I'm still here
That's not nothing

--Vera