half full, half gone

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you say the glass
is half full, raise it to the light,
watch how it catches and holds
a shimmer, how hope balances
on the curve of its lip.

i nod, pretend to see it,
that promise you find
in the clear edges, in the space
where liquid turns to air.
but i’ve never known how
to look up like that.

i think of the weight,
how it feels when everything
pours into your chest, fills
until you’re stretched, taut,
a breath from spilling over.

to you, it’s enough to sip,
to savor, to keep going.
to me, it’s just enough
to drown in, the pull
soft and steady,
an invitation whispered
only i can hear.

the world lifts its glass,
toasts to tomorrows,
to beginnings that glitter
at the rim. but i stand
by the shoreline, listening
to the slow, relentless
rush of the tide
inside me.

the inspiration for this poem, a quote from Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

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