i vrede återvänder

'Before I dared to give the truth a name, I knew it in the quiet of her gaze— the wordless hope that she might turn to me, her presence lingering softly through my days. Yet sorrow was the tutor of my youth, and older wounds bade every longing cease. So I taught desire to answer to friendship and took estrangement from myself for peace. Now, from the life that I have made my own, I grieve the unlived years that lie between. I knew—and therein lies the deepest ache: my heart kept faith with all that lay unseen. But grief is not the measure of my life. I meet her gaze with nothing left to hide; I love her from the fullness of myself and live within the warmth I once denied.'