I keep my heart unlatched, ajar—
no fortress, though it bears the scar
of learning how sorrow's silver lining
and joy's bright edge are minted from one coin.
I quit the gamble, traded luck for truth,
let certainty root deep in restless youth.
Today I'm certain—all things rearrange,
yet equally I know our numbered days
bear expiration dates in fading ink.
Life's but the breath between first cry and last,
this borrowed time is mine to shape, to cast.
So I began to flee—from fractured dreams,
from phantom futures, ghosts of yesteryears—
and anchored in the Now's unflinching stream.
The weight dissolved—no chains, no borrowed scars—
I shed what never was, released the might,
and cupped the quiet light I hold tonight.