save a moment

she cradles darkness, for

her tears crystalize
in the presence of light,
so she takes shade in
the last minutes
of the night.

veins press on her cheeks,
she breathes in the pain

a trajectory of the past maps her face.

she grasps onto the last strand
of life left within silence,

and she sheds a tear

while the world outside is
listening
waiting for her voice to echo

time slipping
and the street lights flicker