Blooming Anyway

The ruins didn’t look romantic.

No soft-focus tragedy,

no beautiful collapse

with violin music behind it.

﹁﹂

It was laundry piled up,

a cracked mug in the sink,

My eyes puffy from crying

at a commercial about dogs.

It was embarrassing, really.

﹁﹂

I thought I was broken-broken.

Like “return to sender,”

Like “please don’t try again.”

I kept waiting for my heart

to stop aching on schedule.

﹁﹂

But then, small things happened

annoyingly small.

A plant I forgot to water

leaned toward the window anyway.

A friend brought soup

and didn’t ask me to perform recovery.

﹁﹂

One morning I cleaned my room

without making it a metaphor.

I just wanted clean sheets.

And the sunlight hit the mattress

Like it had always been allowed to.

﹁﹂

I laughed at something dumb online

and the sound startled me,

like a bird landing

on a burned fence.

﹁﹂

I’m still not “over it.”

I still flinch at certain songs,

still check old messages

Like a bruise I won’t stop pressing.

﹁﹂

But look, something in me is growing.

Quiet.

Unapologetic.

Blooming anyway,

right through the rubble

like it never asked permission.