Picking up the internal slack,
invoking an inward tension
that emboldens one to face the day
and the prospects of oncoming ones.
Wet cheeks reveal visible cues,
flipping calendars, leaf upon leaf:
               .  .  .  existing surrenders,
               like a sparkled after-rain,
bringing a moist crystalline relief
                   that fills the cracks
and mends the broken places.