From my trip to Dollywood in 2018 ♡
i spent the night painting layer over layer of a deep periwinkle paint over a wooden box that absorbed the paint before it could dry
it is a sisyphean task, to make a final place for these final traces of fur plucked from the floor and from the hungry threads of our sweaters
even the paint itself is taken from a case that is chewed past its ability to contain, but now i can’t bear to part with its remnants
one day i will meet a healing that does not feel like betrayal; one day i will allow myself to grow around the memory, not to bury it, but hold it
i am still learning how to lighten my grip on the past, so as to not pierce my palms. i am leaning into growing old with this grief, and in that way so will you