I stumbled on a backup:
our first texts, first jokes
frozen cherries and bloody noses
hairy men in canoes

and for a moment
I was back in our sweetness
remembering how you tapped the wells
I had safely hidden
coaxed my giggles into geysers
and seemed to want nothing more
than to dance in the hot spray

I told a friend, back then
“it’s like my soul is home”
I made camp by these springs, old faithfuls
sunk my toes into the shifting wet earth
thinking I was finally strong enough
to stand

I forgot, back then
before these dry days
that I would need a backup