endurings

1.
the stamen lets go—  
not out of certainty,  
but something close.  
what it flings  
won’t land today.

2.
out west  
you don’t bury grief.  
it breathes beneath  
cracked soil  
and smouldering fences.

3. 
mycelium doesn’t wait  
for speeches.  
it works in the dark—  
no praise,  
no parade.

4.
lichen won’t ask permission.  
it takes the stone  
like a promise  
never made  
but held anyway.

5.  
brittle, yes.  
but some things break  
and still keep holding on.  
that’s what lichen does.

6.  
death gave lichen  
no calendar.  
it just stayed.  
kept staying  
when nothing else did.

7.
me?  
i’ve stopped asking  
for what doesn’t come.  
the sky’s got  
its own story.

8.
so i wring  
what little  
it leaves behind.  
sometimes,  
clouds bleed quiet.

9.  
a calyx—  
not seeking meaning,  
just keeping shape.  
it holds breath  
like it knows what’s next.