Gosh. Having someone else (especially someone as talented as you are) say they're "sitting with" something I wrote is the highest compliment. Thank you so much. 😁 As for that first line, it just sort of came from my pen. The sibilance felt right for the mood, and since I didn't know where the poem was going to take me, the mood was my guiding light. From there, one image sort of just chained into the next. This poem was very organic to write.