sjsprWriting

You are the folds in a weathered book

and a spine lovingly cracked

(open me read me mark me)

You are the color that cuts open the night

and the silence that comes after

(gashes of blue red purple yellow beautiful and explosive gone in a second)

You are the flag with one star captured in a broken diamond

and an unfurling pattern of red and white red and white red and white

(an open palm held out in a broken promise: home)

You are the girl lost at sea

and the woman clinging to shore,

(fingers digging into sand open mouth gulping down air tastes like desperation)

You are the girl with love always at the tip of her tongue

and sarcasm biting at her lips

(obscenities hidden beneath a sharp tongue)

You are the girl weaving a new future

and the woman who feels its weight like a noose

(unpredictable uncertain one wrong step crack)