We spoke of empires, built from ruins––
shattered and extirpated childhoods.
But the dam of adulthood broke and left
us in shambles, we were lost in the shadows,
stuck beneath the weight of despair.
Together, from the ashes of destruction, we rose––
like phoenixes––we soared into the light.
In an instant, it melted away––
wax wings. Amidst the wreckage,
I was left alone.
I tried to piece together the home
we had dreamed of, only to watch it crumble
time and time again––a constant reminder
of my delinquency. Solitude found me
in the fragments––the life you left behind.
I wandered, searching through the unknowns
until I discovered resilient hands
that lifted me, that cradled the pieces
of the girl I was when I first grew weary––
the weight of plans that could never be.
These hands bore their own burdens––scars
that sang songs of survival.
Though our carnage wears different
faces, we rise anew, together,
from ruin.