Letter to Henry

I do not care if they approve of you.

Approval allows ships to dock for free

but it does not bring them into the harbor,

and repetition of tradition

does not make practice outside of it a lie.

I let myself slip into the abyss, and I found you—

digging a grave with silence.

I’ll admit, I admired the view

before I leaped in front of you

and we met like a clash of swords!

You cast me away but I would not let go,

and with jaw-clenched determination I set to keep you

central in my thoughts

like a song I’ve tried before to forget

hoping

that you might just feel the same

and stay.