ALL POETRY AND ARTWORK BY DANIELA TAMMAN IS COPYRIGHT AND MEASURES HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO ENSURE THE PROTECTION OF THIS COPYRIGHT.

As hard as we are
We break;
Standing on
Cracks in the pavement,
Weathered away by the stomp of rain
And worn smooth by wrinkles of time
In passage.
Souls worn bare, like shoddy shoes
Slipping on the stone.
Smiling lines paved beyond
The road that lies ahead
And open skies
Of grey and white
And blue, and gold, and red.
Sunny dreams and singing storms
Pretend the wind away.
Ochre fields of memories
Sepia, fading grey.
And like the perfumed scent
Of love
Whispering in the air
A hint of almost
Not enough
Too much
And barely there.
Nothing seems to pinch so much
The cold is brittle but downy soft
The night is dark but lush, damask
And splintered selves in agony,
Begin to feel like paper cuts
It burns,
In turns,
It dulls,
It learns,
It yearns -
The feeling fades, but leaves it's mark.

The tremor that once shook the earth -
It turns into a scar
Across the land,
The stone, the streets
A crack that changed the face -
Pulled it apart
And proved it's strength
For still, more than ever,
We hold it together.