Sunrise Breaks Slowly

Sunrise breaks slowly.
Golden light finds my face before I'm ready for it.

Warm.

A bird won't stop.
I let it.

Coffee steams in my hands.
I take a sip.
Bitter the way honest things are.

Light moves across the wall.
Shadows shift with it.
I watch them like I used to watch you breathe.

Time keeps passing.
I know.
I've stopped fighting that particular fact.

I breathe in.
Hold it.
Let the calm settle where the ache usually lives.

Morning opens its hands.
I don't flinch.

This moment.
Right here.
Still mine.

The stillness doesn't fix anything.
But I'm in it.
Eyes open.
Drinking.

--Vera