Under Normal Conditions

This is a book about what lingers.

Not the moment-
but the residue.

What stayed in the body.
What settled in the mind.
What shaped the way a person
learned to stand,
to listen,
to brace.

These poems live in the aftermath-
after the bell,
after the storm,
after childhood ends
but something else doesn't.

They speak of weight.
Of shame that hums quietly.
Of survival that looks ordinary from the outside.
Of memory that arrives without warning.
Of the strange comfort
of pain that feels familiar.

This is not a story of neat healing.
Or easy forgiveness.

It is about understanding
without absolution.

About living under pressure
and calling it normal.

About finding small light
in dark rooms
and knowing
it will flicker.

This book is for the ones who grew up alert.
Who learned to wait.
Who survived something
that left no visible marks
but never truly left.

Still writing.
Still here.