I start with a line

graphite—light
almost unsure of itself
because if I press too hard it becomes a commitment
and I’ve spent years
living inside commitments
that didn’t fully belong to me
I build it slowly
short strokes
adjustments
erasures
small negotiations with the page
I try to find the shape
something recognizable
something that makes sense
this is the part
I was taught to trust
the part that can be explained
justified
approved
I hear his voice here
clear
decisive
you can’t make a living with words
you can’t make a life out of art
so I learned
to keep it contained
to make it small enough
to exist without threatening anything
but it never stays
somewhere in the middle
my hand loosens
not because I decide to
because I can’t hold it anymore
and that’s when I reach
for water
I let it fall
not controlled
not measured

I let it touch the graphite
and pull it outward
and it spreads
past the edges
past the version
that was acceptable
past the place
where I could still say
this is just a drawing
and I watch it
because I know
this part is not about skill
this is release
this is the place
I was told
not to trust
words do the same thing
they start contained
careful
edited
safe
and then
they don’t
they spill
they move
they say things
I didn’t plan to admit
and I come here
again
and again
and again
not because I’m searching
because I cannot swallow it
I tried
for years
to keep it inside
to make a life
that didn’t need this
but something in me
refused
quietly
consistently
until it began to show up in my body
in that pressure
in that drop
in those moments
where everything looks fine
and still
something is missing
this
this is where it goes
this page
this space
this place where I don’t have to explain
or prove
or justify
this is where I am allowed
to exist
without translating myself

the bird appears here
or almost does
mid-flight
mid-fall
mid-becoming
I don’t try to fix it anymore
I let it stay unclear
because that’s the only way it feels honest
I used to think
if it couldn’t be something
I could live from
it wasn’t worth this
this time
this attention
this need
but now
I see it differently
this isn’t about making a living
this is about not disappearing
this is about giving shape to something in me that will not stay silent
and every time
I let it out
in lines
in water
in words
something in me
settles
not completely
never completely
but enough
to breathe
and maybe that’s what this is
not a career
not a plan
a place
where I don’t have to hold it all
where I can let it move
where I can let it be seen
where I can stop pretending
it isn’t there
and that
that is why
I keep coming back

































































































































































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