Lotus

Japan, 1863. Across the globe, the civil war rages.

I made the long walk

Across the plains,

through the village path

under the stars.

At long last, I came to the monastery

In my heart is a girl who

Waltzes to the beat

Of the thrum, who

Surrounds herself with millions

Of fairy lights that

Twinkle with the stars, and

What happens if I fall in love

And no one's there to catch me

What if I give them the world

And they ask for the universe

What do I do if falling in love

Is like free-falling but not knowing where

Is it okay that I wish for my grandmother to die? 

in my heart, hope is a quiet thing
a pulse beneath rubble
soft as breath against marble dust.

it doesn't sing
it lingers.
it waits in the cracks where sunlight pools
on mornings the mist forgets to rise.

There is a language 
spoken only in half-glances, 
in the weight of a pause 
just before someone smiles.