i do understand why you left
and, in the embrace of time,
i've come to understand, also,
why i did the things
that made you want to leave.
i do not understand
(and likely never will)
why we did not find a way.
'you made it difficult',
you could say, and
yes -- even though the thorns,
the mazes and the moats
were never meant for you,
i did make it difficult
-- because i was a fool
raised among fools
of the kind who see very little, and
get that tiny fragment
wrong, too
i may never get it right,
i may never see the way i was
supposed to see,
but i'm not allowed to
stop trying.
in another universe,
i still have your compass
we are kind to each other
i tell you stories
and we are happy -- as much
as we're allowed to be
when i bring in your
birthday cake.