a year without
spring came soft and new
like it always does
flowers opened in the yard
and i watched them alone
summer stayed a while
hot and humid on my skin
birds calling from far away places
i thought you might come then
fall turned everything gold leaves fell like small goodbyes
and i collected none of them
winter made things quiet
the kind of quiet that stays
where you didn’t
now spring is back again
and i am still here
as if the world moved on
without asking me to follow
June 2026
I was feeling inspired by a prompt I saw where it asked me to describe “waiting” without using the word.