Marks that remain.

More than anything I wanted it to be okay
Even at the end, as if a trick, I believed it would.
I carried the weight of vows
like a lantern in daylight—
useless, but still burning,
still stubborn with hope.

I held my breath through silence,
mistook stonewall for a stone altar,
thinking maybe if I bled enough
the cracks would seal.

But the house knew before I did.
T…