Before it Breaks

By Dara Laine

                                 

Sideoats grama droops

only on one side—

a tilt unseen

until the light flickers

across its tilted stem.

 

The line collapsed.

Only so many clicks—

Grandpa said

that’s all a thing can take

before it breaks.

 

I wanted to believe

he’d be okay.

Not a lie—then—

but close enough

to blur the edges.

 

The grass curved.

The hours tipped sideways.

I slipped—

foot caught in raised roots—

nothing strong enough

to stop the drift.

 

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