baby fluff

kindness.

quiet and shy,

it hides in a screen

for only my eyes.

it's simple and lonely

rarer and rarer

it flickers and sputters

such a lonely wonder.

a bird trying to breathe,

i watch its lungs straining

but how can we know

that it'll be able to live?

we must not smother it,

while we destroy the gnarled smoke.

it's essential to protect

our sweet reminder of hope.

and yet, smaller and smaller its feathers grow

such a faltering smile in a forest of foes

when will it chirp

or make itself known?

~