Stolen Seasons

I don’t remember last summer clearly

just heat on my shoulders

And you saying,

“Don’t wear that,”

like my body was a public argument.

﹁﹂

Autumn came and I didn’t notice

because I was busy shrinking,

busy rewriting my tone

So you wouldn’t get sharp.

﹁﹂

Winter felt endless.

Not snow, not sweaters,

just that inside-cold

where you start believing

You deserve less daylight.

﹁﹂

Spring tried to arrive anyway

buds on the trees outside my window,

birds being loud on purpose,

The world insisting on beginning again

without my permission.

﹁﹂

I grieve the seasons you stole,

the birthdays I half-attended,

The photos where my smile

Looks rented.

﹁﹂

Sometimes I get furious,

like I could punch time itself,

Make it give my years back

with interest.

﹁﹂

But here I am,

buying seeds at the corner shop,

standing in the dirt like it’s therapy,

planting something small

and calling it mine.

﹁﹂

Maybe I can’t recover the past.

Maybe I don’t have to.

Maybe new growth is enough

not to erase it,

But to prove I’m still here.