The Weight of an Unexpected Pause

I didn’t see it, that cracked yellow arc

jutting from the cracked asphalt

like a scar left careless.

My foot caught—sudden, sharp—a jolt

that shook the rush right out of me,

a reminder that even the street

can halt your stride like a cold hand.

That bump held my stumble,

and for a moment,

the city’s frantic pulse

hit pause,

just long enough

for a bruise to bloom.