(me by Tati Pino)
there are empty cans and cigarettes I regret
like the mistakes you make at 16
i’m liberated by all definition
I have no child to raise
just a little debt
but no one over me
the morning sun no longer hisses in its rise
but I still touch what’s around me, feeling to make sure it’s really there
not still in the envelopment of dreams
everything I do I do right
to quench a mighty thirst
I know open hearts surely bear the most
and sometimes love feels like a heaviness
and the absence of it like an unburdening
it’s been a passive undoing since I was 23
I sometimes hang onto any goodness
accepting praise and affection from anyone
now that undoing is done
that fear has released me
as I make room