Moth to a Flame

I love this place

My first glimpses of home and acts of bravery

Where I found love to be embraced by, in both my darkness and light

I think about who I could have been here

If I did not move in so much haste

To run from fear I did not yet know how to emotionally raise

I remember her in the uneven fields

On game days, breathless runs, ruptures of trust

I feel her in the jittered winds of an upstate autumn

With strained eyes in waiting rooms, dressed in army jackets

I care for her within the laughter of who stayed behind

Growing roots in places where I did not know I wanted to feel water

Maybe I still try to hold on in a misplaced way

When I look past the version of your heart

That got so broken and made you harmful

Because I know I could stay away from you

From 100 feet or more

For I am someone you would likely try to destroy

But I don’t know why

I am a moth to a flame

Adina Bari Writing