rejoice alone

so this is the time to be alone, and rejoice.

your heart is still whole after all these years.

when there was nothing save the sidewalk salt,

cigarettes in the gutter and unwashed skin—

it was for naught

but now.

you were made to button shirts, read bright-covered books.

run your hands through the puzzle box;

lacquered cardboard whispers

you can make this right.

turtles slip softly into the pond, unaided.

the ducks can feed themselves.

watch them dive.

…

© 2019 Anna-Christina Betekhtin, All Rights Reserved.