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# roots
- URL: https://the-afterword.ghost.io/roots/
- Published: 2026-09-09T01:26:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-09T01:26:25.000Z
- Author: mia davi

love, you cannot stay here forever.

you cannot grow roots in the same place you grew up,  
anchored by sameness,  
sinking deeper into “what ifs”  
while the rest of the world trips across state lines,  
discovering unknowns.

soon, you will never see this house again.

your acquaintances will scatter to dissimilar places,  
drawn by the promise of newness,  
chasing the reflections they are yet to meet.

there is a bittersweet tang to last goodbyes,  
hardened with tear salt,  
held together by trembling smiles.

you stare blankly across the courtyard  
at past loves, last loves, almost-loves.

however, this is only the next forever.

a new place to lay your heart,  
a new canvas on which to paint remembrance.

and this town, these people, these fleeting moments  
will lie still for you.  
they will settle into the chambers of your existence  
that time cannot erode.

their names become tongue tattoos,  
uttered in conversational lulls, in moments of nostalgia.

and little by little,  
what once felt like your entire world  
softens into something you can hold.

not less important,  
but carried differently,

until it is no longer  
the ground beneath your feet,  
but something that lingers within you.