Ruin and Resilience

A poem

Would you like to know the dream I dreamed for us? Back when I thought a future was to be When every time I looked into your eyes Sandcastles built themselves of all that I could see Before I knew you weren’t dreaming of me Before I knew we’d lose ourselves like sand Pulled by water away from solid land How long I floundered reaching for your hand Searching for the light that would guide you back to me Before I realized I must sink, or swim And the dreams I built, alone, were not to be

But they were lovely, these dreams you’ll never see Filled with love and moments grand and small My makeup spilling across the bathroom counter Your shoes abandoned sideways in the hall Quiet coffee, smiles across a countertop And nighttime rituals soothing us to sleep A million moments washed away by time Too precious to hold, impossible to keep

But new dreams grew and climbed my garden walls Beauty bloomed in spaces left behind Lovers slipped into my bed to erase the name That used to run like weeds inside my mind The dreams of us were lovely, that’s all true And I know I’m better because I once loved you But new dreams grow when other dreams fall apart Happiness blooms in a wild and resilient heart.