Slivers of Red

I found another shard of it. That sliver of red stuck out in a story of plague--a sharp, bright bit that might have cut me again. But I already knew the trick of picking it up without too much pain. I'd gathered plenty of others like it already. Those were in stories too, though some of them were cocooned in songs and needed to be unwrapped first. I know that it won't look the same even if I find every last piece. I've stopped worrying about that now. The point is I'm looking for them, rediscovering the contours and angles of each of these bits of me, and glorying in the way they feel at home in my chest.

My tree grows new leaves
after winter claims old ones.
New fruits will grow too.

Photo by Riho Kitagawa on Unsplash

Song choice: Kintsugi by Lindsey Stirling

Liner Notes for this Groove: This poem is linked to Poets and Storytellers United

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Meeting April 2026

 April is like everything else; it meets you like you meet it. I have known toothy Aprils. Ones that roared their victory over winter's leftover crumbs and devoured them to get even stronger. I've had Aprils that curl up next to me, tucking irrepressible wildflowers into my pocket while my head was pressed to a wall. Those Aprils put their arms around me and whispered into my ear while cherry blossoms rained around us. This one is a curious April, perhaps a little stubborn. Those flowers will bloom, though the wind will blow. And then we will see what colors they take on, what fruits will feed us in October.

the bud doesn't need
to know it's final color
in order to bloom

Photo by Rui Xu on Unsplash

Song Choice for this Groove: What's Up? by Four Non Blondes

Liner Notes for this Groove: This is linked to Poets and Storytellers United's Friday Writings post. The prompt asked us to find inspiration in a group of quotes about April. I think I took a little bit from both T.S. Eliot and Marty Rubin to come up with something that felt like me.

By Rommy Cortez-Driks