You saw me.
Not just the bouncy quirky girl
With bright mismatched fingerless gloves
Skipping and laughing,
Playing along.
- You saw me.
Me, who even I hadn't seen.
Or realised existed.

Arms wide
You made it clear I could be open
Something no one else had achieved.
Such a caring flowed forth
I felt myself broken
In places I hadn't dared admit
And these you hugged
Compassionately tended to.
As I tended to yours.
A unity of sorrow, art
And poetry

But it was spoilt.
We both needed growth
Find that inner strength.
Your resentment
Triggered my passivity
Until I was manipulated dumb
- By us both
And soon I exploded
And ran
I didn't know any other way
But neither did you.

And you slipped to the other side
Of what?
That great unknown curtain.
It's almost two years now.
I feel you tend to me still
As others in my web do too.
I am healing, growing,
Coming into my own.

I tried to write this for you, Luke.
An ode.
But in the end it's for me anyway.
It's always for me.
I guess I just wanted to say
"I'm glad I didn't die before I met you"
Thank you for all you gifted me
All I have learnt
You are love and light
- Aren't we all?