For the version of you that’s healing quietly.

Before the Ash Falls

by Amy Csordas

A collection of poetry and reflection for the moments you don’t always have words for.

Pockets

I know I’ve held you down so I can fly.

You’ve had to remain in that constant grind,

stuck somewhere you hate while your mind

can’t seem to justify why

I can’t be your constant to rely on.

So, you tuck rocks into my pockets.

Like a card wedged inside a bike’s sprockets,

I scream, “I’ll do better or get better next time.”

If only to buy rest for some deflection,

I hate myself and this rock collection.

Prompt
Write about something meaningful you always carry with you.

Valentine

It’s Valentine’s Day,

and I already know how it ends.

So, I don’t get too excited, I don’t overextend

my feelings, I just move through the motions.

Grab a card and some other tokens

to satisfy the urge to make someone feel complete.

Yet I know on the other side there will be nothing laid out for me.

You hold me in your arms and say, “You are my Valentine.”

You state you had no time, but that’s where your talent lies.

It’s like you dug me out of a blizzard but left my heart to freeze.

This time, the joke is on you; my heart is already minus 30 degrees.

Prompt

If your emotions had a temperature right now, what would they be? How can you bring warmth to yourself?

If something here resonated with you, the full collection of Before The Ash Falls, moves through grief, love, healing, and transformation, creating space for reflection, release, and renewal.

I wrote this collection during a turning point in my life, when poetry became a way to hold space for feelings too heavy to carry alone. My hope is that these words offer a quiet place to pause, reflect, and feel a little less alone.