༻᯽᪥🦋᪥᯽༺

I took this heart from the roots of a tree,
once a seed trembling in the dark,
a quiet promise buried beneath the weight
of seasons that never asked for permission.

It was a small thing—
no bigger than the space between a sigh and silence,
no stronger than the whisper of a river
pulling itself through stone.
But it grew, and I grew,
through the brittle mornings,
through the nights that pressed against my ribs
like unwelcome hands.

Once, I gave it away—
folded it into the palms of strangers
who mistook its...