Melissa Lemay

maybe i’ve been wrong all this time
the cat lying in the pile of dirty laundry
has it all figured out

every time a monarch butterfly
flutters by, i breathe in a little magic

seeing shapes in clouds reminding
me of simpler days
why am i awake? i ask myself

the years of hurting i have mastered
i haven’t ever really figured out how to live
in this skin, without any more than

dulled points and accumulated scars
pushing me down onto the floor
the names of all the things i am not

i am

i will stop wanting to fly tomorrow,
and i will breathe in all of it
the light hitting my fingertips

the sound that sinks into your heart
when you listen to my laughter
the flowerbeds, digging my fingers

into them, reaching to the other side
of the earth
this is what heaven feels like

will you come with me?

Melissa Lemay lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with her children and cats. She writes about God, addiction, trauma, healing, motherhood, and many other things. She enjoys spending time with family, drinking good coffee, and being outdoors. She loves animals. Her poem “Ephemeral” was chosen as Poetic Publication of the Year for 2023 at Spillwords Press; she was Author of the Month for July 2024 and Author of the Year for 2024. Find her at melissalemay.wordpress.com, collaborature.blogspot.com, and at dVerse Poets Pub.

This poem appeared in What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On — Winter 2026, published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project. We’ll be featuring each poem from the collection individually in the weeks ahead. You can read the full collection or download a free PDF of the chapbook here.