Something better is coming, perhaps

Cadralor inspired by yesterday’s Mechanical Oracle word suggestions.

Something better is coming, perhaps

1.
The letter stays unwritten,
the bell tolls in the rain,
and faces turn away, thin lips tightened,
keeping their words of kindness
for themselves.

2.
The river has burst its banks,
the bridge unpassable.
Caught between here and high waters,
I wade into the leaf-swirl,
become a broken branch.

3.
Summer oranges
in the sieved sunlight,
the smell of bread and coffee,
such wealth in this room
that has only ever known poverty.

4.
The scales are level but only here,
on this cusp of time and place.
Beyond, greedy hands are building the pyre.
So much ash in the balance,
and I have nothing left to counter it all.

5.
Night trees roll in a wave of ink,
the fierce day is over,
its heat drenched in the cool swell,
and joy in the shadows runs wild,
dark and sweet as purple wine.