back road humming like a worn-out hymn,

july heat stuck to my collar again,

i’m half broken, half brave, half in my head,

counting the cracks in the paint on my bed.

she’s on the porch in a hand-me-down tee,

laughing like the world never happened to me,

and i swear every time she looks my way,

the hard parts of me start giving up their claim.

i been burning for a reason i can’t name,

like a match in the rain, the kid i couldn’t save,

but she’s a slow song, she’s a steady glow,

she’s a “come back home” in the after show

?????

and she never gets sunburned.

8/25/2025