Oh c’mon.

Just a little bit more.
Let me see you.
Peel that heavy armor, it is not meant for souls like us.
The metallic flavor is far too bitter.

Who needs future-telling when we know the past?
Our past. All of us.
I remember you.

The you that extends beyond the façade of your own making.

That
anguish,
suffering.
Eyes wide.
Arms spread.
Imploring to know why.
Why?
That’s not us.

I get it—
you hiding.
Why we all hid.

And me.
Ha.
I’ve got this lifeless baby bird in my palm; neck snapped, beak agape.
Still searching for a place to set her to rest.

Everything that never was.
Or was it?

That dream I had where we were together, but still on our separate journeys.
Always two different auras, I had said.

Was that us?
You working at your favorite spot.
Me dancing like wind behind you.
Our backs facing each other.
But our joy danced between us like hummingbirds, constantly shifting, fast as wildfire.

Lay the past down in the past,
I whisper to myself and to you.
I have no interest in judging you.
I have no interest in saving you.
Not even interested in healing you.

I just want to experience that grin.
To witness your truth.
Nibble on my dark chocolate, and lick salt rocks.

We are the salt of the Earth,
you and I.

It wasn’t just given to us.
We earned that sh*t.
This is our trophy.
Well deserved.
We might as well savor this together.

You are limitless.
You are worthy.
You are doing it.
You are whole.

If they tell you differently, they are lying.
You can listen.
You can draw a wall between us.

Oh, wait it’s already there.
I’m too sensitive, you’ll say.
And you’ll be right.
My senses run so deep,
they may just take you down, too.

I know my place, though.
I know what’s down here
and I’m willing to sit in this swamp alone.

As I always have.

Emptiness is a dear friend of mine.
We go way back,
me and that broad.
Creation springs from her barren spaces.
And I revel in her resolve.
Yes, emptiness should be worshipped.

But you already know that, don’t you?
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Author: Abigail Barella
Image: Taia Butler 
Editor: Taia Butler
Copy Editor: Lieselle Davidson
Social Editor: Khara-Jade Warren/Catherine Monkman