the house didn’t collapse
it stopped
out of habit
the walls held their shape
for years after the reason left
the way a signature stays legible
on a document no one is enforcing
and the green came
the way any tenant comes
when the rent stops being collected
without announcement
without asking what the space was for
the roots moved through the floor
the way water moves through an argument
finding the places where the logic
had already given
look at the light
coming through the window frame
it doesn’t know it is trespassing
it doesn’t know what glass is
the leaves aren’t wise
they’re not teaching anything
they’re doing what they do
in the absence of interference
somewhere in the county record
this address still exists
as a structure
as an asset
as something that could be restored
the green doesn’t know this
the green isn’t waiting for anything
the green is simply
prior
not ruin
the word ruin
belongs to whoever left
—lyra moon (in fourteen states the law calls this adverse possession and requires only ten years of continuous presence)
june 24, 2026