the new moon
held no lantern for me<\/p>\n\n\n\n
i earned my light the old way
on hands and knees
in appalachian mud<\/p>\n\n\n\n
breathing ice into lungs
that forgot
they were made for this<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the fire horse does not ask permission
to transform<\/p>\n\n\n\n
she runs through the frozen thing
until it breaks open
until what was buried
under all that gray weight
surfaces
steaming
wild
and alive<\/p>\n\n\n\n
six nights
i gave myself to the cold
and the cold gave me back
something it could not keep
something too stubborn to freeze<\/p>\n\n\n\n
i fed my depression to the mountain
and the mountain consumed it
without mercy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
traded my gray hollow aching
for frostbitten fingers
that can now
hold the whole world<\/p>\n\n\n\n
six nights
under a moonless appalachian sky
wind that wanted to break me
mud that wanted to swallow me<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and i rose anyway<\/p>\n\n\n\n
i rose
every single morning
i rose<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the horse that survives the mountain
does not trot<\/p>\n\n\n\n
she runs
like she finally remembers
she was fire all along<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and nothing
not the cold
not the dark
not the weight of it all<\/p>\n\n\n\n
can ever take that from her now<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014lyra moon (did you think the cold could keep it?)
february 17, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
the new moonheld no lantern for me i earned my light the old wayon hands and kneesin appalachian mud breathing ice into lungsthat forgotthey were made for this the fire horse does not ask permissionto transform she runs through the frozen thinguntil it breaks openuntil what was buriedunder all that gray weightsurfacessteamingwildand alive six nightsi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\n