collapse

the trees climbed over our heads.

their thin fingers combed through

stars and clasped the night,

pulling it over our eyes.

we sat inside the walls we'd created

and devilish leaks sprang through them.

the vast ocean behind them crowed;

our dam creaked under the weight of

all we'd ignored.

we braced ourselves against the

threat of collapse and

splayed our fingers until

they were strangers.

crumbs of soil sketched masterpieces

onto our skin.

we grounded ourselves and

our roots intertwined,

but we could not hold out any longer

and floods of denial rushed around us.

ruthless waters swept the mud from

our stems and dragged us away.

whipped by watery demons,

we were beaten by

fragments of the wall we had built--

the wall we had broken.