THE ANCHOR AND THE STORM

 

The Anchor and the Storm

I refuse to be a fleeting shadow,

slipping through the cracks of a fractured dawn.

I am here to root myself in the marrow of this earth,

to carve a difference from the stone of our shared chaos.

Our jagged edges, they teach us—

how to wield the chisel, shape the raw gifts

we’ve been handed, though the weight

is heavy, and the stakes tower like thunderheads.  

In the end, you are still my harbor,

and we meant for this ship to sail unbroken.

We didn’t shatter, didn’t let the flames consume us—

we learned to bend, like willows in a gale,

without the sky collapsing on our heads.

I had to chart what is mine, what is not,

and who I am beneath the salt and spray.  

I will not abandon us,

even when the heavens rage and the waves claw at our hull.

I pour my love into the cracks,

eyes fixed on the stars beyond the storm.

Yes, I’m still gazing upward,

still tracing constellations in the dark.  

I will not surrender us (No, I won’t let it slip),

for I am forged in the fire of this fight (I am steel, I am cherished).

We have oceans to cross (We breathe, we are love),

and the gods know we are worth the voyage (Yes, we are worth it).  

I will not abandon us,

even when the tempest screams and the night presses close.

I give you all my love,

and still, I look to the stars,

still, I look to the stars.