too much history, where there was pain.
so much strength, where I have strained to find you.
with all that we have lost, together.
I, myself have gained boundless measures within this life.

  Simple to count...
                                                        ­                             family
                                            boots
        ­                                                           coffee
         love
                                                            ­                                               books
                             winter
                                                          ­       mystery
        long nights
                                                          ­                             city lights
                                                  fog
    ­                                                            exper­ience
            music
                                         ­                                                     great films
                               cherries
                                                        ­   fall
                                                            ­                                 peaches
               mangoes
                                                         ­            the future
                                  poets
                  ­                                                                 ­             and their poetry.

We are not the names we carry.
We are the years we wear.
We are not cursed creatures.
We are not our bodies.
We are infinite certainties.