dirt

i keep walking
but the ground beneath me
doesn’t keep its promises
it dips
then swallows
like it's tired of holding
what i carry

every step feels like a question
like the earth is asking
if i deserve to keep moving

this dirt
it isn’t dry or loyal
it remembers rain
remembers how to pull you under
when your balance
depends on forgetting

i look back
but the footprints are gone
erased by their own weight
as if i never tried
as if i was never here

i thought the path would harden
with time
thought love
or prayers
or poetry
would pack the soil enough
to stand tall

but the more i speak
the softer it gets
like truth
is too heavy
for ground like this

my ankles are tired of hoping
my knees
are bargaining with gravity
and still
i walk
not because i believe
there’s solid land ahead
but because stopping
feels worse
than sinking

maybe one day
i'll find a place
that holds me
maybe one day
the ground
will call me
home
without trying
to keep me