july 25, 2025

in the morning, I found that the orchid had died.

in the evening, it was her.

all of the prayers that might have been the ones that saved me, stopped.

all the blessings that might have been the ones that changed me, mine now to redeem,

to mouth with my own lips,

to shape with my own life.

one hundred years is a long time. one hundred years was a long life.

I saw a female cardinal through the window and she told me,

“lovely, it is your turn

to take up

this cross.”