Star

“Why do your eyes still swim

with the drowning promises

of your people past?” they exclaim,

almost as if I’m to blame

for the battering fingers

lingering in the crevices

of my heart.

How am I to let them know

that the only grace I can

gift my forgiveness

is the sanctity of memory…

just like a star that

shines past its hour.

                                                     ~N.V.