Bridge

These tendons stretch to no avail-
my muscles were not made this long,
to push against the bonds
of distance and fail,
falter, try again
and fail. The aching in my very bones
to grow, like a dried sponge
put in water- to expand and fill
every empty nook and cranny until
there is no part of the world
that I cannot be; saying,
“There there, I’m here. Please,
have some tea and cookies and my love.”
But
I was born human, not a bridge-
these are the things
we must build and cross,
and I am still at a loss.






Maybe flowed better all in one piece, but oh well.

Just found this as a draft, to be honest. Kinda forgot it was there. This is back from October! Better late than never.

Grief

I watched her wipe the tears away, when
her hands weren't busy twisting the broken
keychain. "I try," she said, "I try so
hard to carry on, to be the strong one.
I've prayed so long for this- this
pain- to go away, for me to be happy. But it's
so hard, so hard when it all comes crashing
down."
She continued to explain, I
continued to listen, feeling like
I should cry with her or bake cookies
or call up these people who could not
or would not support her and tell them off;
she was laboring under something so large
that I could not understand.
She cried, I clenched
my hands into useless fists. When
most of the moment was gone, she left
to find a phone charger so that
she could comfort her grieving aunt.
I watched her leave, thinking
of islands and men and God and the
ingredients for chocolate chip cookies.





I also thought, Why God, why? I know what people would say why, but why?
It's so painful to not know how to help someone, because I always want to make them cookies and it never does much at all.