a reward for discretion and having a gentle hand
the rise in a proofing drawer of hand-kneaded bread
a reminder life can and will somehow be beautiful

​wading through the cranberry bog with dry ankles
because someone you’ve never met cares for you
a reward for discretion and having a gentle hand

you worry you’ll burn going down even cut with
brine or citrus but people acquire new tastes daily
a reminder life can and will somehow be beautiful

a cardboard box of something to be reconstituted
is not a shame as it gives you more time to lie
a reward for discretion and having a gentle hand

mend your torn skirt by hand in the candlelight
that’s why she taught you with needles all your own
a reminder life can and will somehow be beautiful

​and guilt may still bring you down some late nights
and you still might never quite figure it out, but
a reward for discretion and having a gentle hand
a reminder life can and will somehow be beautiful

next

Marina Ramil (any pronouns) has work featured in Stoneboat, South Florida Poetry Journal, OxMag, Astrolabe, and elsewhere. They live in Miami with the alligators and strangler figs. You can find them on Instagram and Twitter @thesuncomingout.