Three shades too light,
I don’t have the strength
to lift myself to the balcony
where I’ve gazed out a thousand
times, though the curtain has
always been there, the glass
looking out into the future,
the sun. Never set a small table
in its soft light, the gray–
a little breeze, barely there.

(originally published in White Stag #SPIRIT Anthology, Winter 2023)