Clap When You Land

by Elizabeth Acevedo

but it has saved my life on the many days when I need a reminder the world is bigger than the one I know, & its currents are always moving; when I need a reminder there is a life for me beyond the water & that one day I will not be left behind.

On the days I wake up with smooth palms I’m angry at myself. There should be no breaks from this grief. Not even in sleep.

want to forget this whole past year & remember only the good things.

Inside me something has shrunk, but I want to be deserving of all the space around me. Even as I realize this space might not be ours for long.

she is a nurturer, but she is also a ferocious defender. & so I remember that to walk this world you must be kind but also fierce.

That maybe a bad husband can still be a good parent. That maybe he tried to be the best he knew how to be.