Between Bruises and Blooms

By nine o’clock,

the world has grown quiet enough to hear the things we spent all day trying to outrun.

The smiles are folded away with the laundry.

The brave face sits beside an untouched cup of tea.

There is a loneliness that only visits after sunset—

when no one is asking how you’re doing anymore.

Some hearts spill themselves into everyone else until there is nothing left to drink from.

Some hearts become so accustomed to surviving they forget they were meant to feel joy, too.

If tonight your cup feels empty,

don’t mistake emptiness for failure.

Even rivers run low before the rain returns.

Rest.

Set the weight down.

Tomorrow will ask enough of you.

Tonight,

simply let your heart be held by the silence instead of fighting it.