A Year of Shadows

The clock spun slow, yet months flew past,

Each heartbeat echoed, bruised and glassed.

The skies, once bright, grew cold and grey,

Love slipped like sand, then washed away.

Through whispered hopes and silent tears,

I counted cracks in fragile years.

Dreams I held with tender hands,

Fell apart like broken strands.

The roads were long, the nights were deep,

Grief curled around where love would sleep.

Yet even in this hollowed space,

A flicker rose—fragile grace.

For hearts that break will learn to mend,

Wounds may scar but still transcend.

The bitter winds may shake the bough,

But roots grow strong beneath it now.

Though shadows stretched across my shore,

I rise to meet the light once more.

This year of ache will one day gleam,

A memory soft—a distant dream.