Ode to the Heat That Didn’t Kill Me

Melba

I walked through summer
with cracked heels
and a mouth full of dried-up prayers.

I begged the sun
to stop testing me,
but it only grew louder.

So I burned.
And blistered.
And bloomed.

Now—
I wear the scorch like jewelry.
I call the smoke my sister.
I thank the fire
for showing me
I was never meant to be soft.

‡‡

MELBA is the author of Unplanted Yet Flourishing: A Poetic Journey Through Infertility, Loss & Healing. Her poetry weaves themes of grief, resilience, and reclamation through the language of nature, ritual, and memory. Rooted in both tenderness and truth, her work invites readers to sit with what aches and bloom anyway.