somewhere inside you
the child you were
is still sitting in the dark
holding their knees
they watched you grow
into the one person
they never thought would hurt them
and they stayed anyway
this is where it begins
not with the mirror
not with the mountain
with that child
not fixing them
not saving them
just finding them
in the dark where you left them
bowing your head
and saying
I know
I took so long
the trees outside are speaking
a language you used to know
before you learned
to keep your face still
every stranger on the street
is also carrying this
their own small figure
huddled in the dark
when you finally stop
turning the knife inward
you see them
and they become holy
the oceans get larger then
the colors come back
not because the world changed
but because you stopped
prosecuting the witness
to carry fire in a wooden house
is not reckless
it is the only way
anything gets warm
you do not need to earn
the right to be here
you only need to stop
being the one who says you do
love is not gathered from outside
it is the lens
wiped clean
with your own mercy
and once you learn
to sit with who you are
without flinching
the whole house
holds
—lyra moon (to finally meet the child you abandoned inside yourself is to understand every cruelty you ever swallowed)
august 11, 2026