We Were Never Young

we were never young
from every room hearts spoke through walls too thin to hold
the weight of what they heard
so fires crept through spaces long left soft and blurred

notes pushed under the doors
frozen to the floor we believed everything
leaves blown beneath the eaves
whirring like a nest of wound-up starlings

we were young
we didn't heed those things
if birds were singing we were loved

we were young
like the universe
like our mothers were
like these words