Serotiny

by The_Descolada

Summary:

Somewhere on the trek to Argus, Blake reflects on how Yang has changed since the Fall of Beacon.

For Transfem Yang Week 2025, Day 2: Taking Up Space

Notes:

HAPPY TRANSFEM YANG WEEK! I'm so happy to see all the analysis and creativity already. My focus has been rough lately for a number of reasons, but I still really wanted to create something for this and getting back to my poetry roots seemed like a good way to not bite off more than I could chew and spark up that motivation again!

As always, thanks so much to my bestie and creative partner Alice aka Miles aka Frog for cheering me on and beta reading. Your poetry will always be inspirational to me.

the light enters your eyes differently now
sunlight after dark
somehow unchanged yet unrecognizable
from the girl before
glare sharpened down to a waning point
but untouched
unmarred
to you

she used to fill rooms up
with just a smile
and you thought you couldn’t touch
such a blistering heat between you
and the girl underneath

the heat doesn’t shimmer now
the girl doesn’t fill the room
but it’s warmer
softer
new kindling lit atop the embers
scars smoldering into new growth
green poking up from the charcoal
you left

it seems treasonous
to wonder
to see haze fall away and think what remains
is more real
pain stripping away what was safe
but can’t be
anymore

maybe she’d hate you for that
for finding
bristles and thorns and soft moss
after the fire dies
and wanting to touch
heedless of the blood pricked
on your palms

the girl doesn’t fill the room now
but it was empty without her

Notes:

This felt good to write, poemfics are hard but really intriguing to me. Hopefully I can get the next chapter of ITD continued on the sooner end!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you liked if you enjoyed this! You can find more of my work on my tumblr and twitter!