"I have always tried to let the truth irradiate the history", (Philip Pullman).

Good to see you R...

As I seek to give R's story a shape that our society might find acceptable, I myself am altered, bruised, crushed.

"An endless stream of people dragged the story behind them but were yet drawn forward by it", (Ismail Kadare).

R, as I bring your story with me, may I only ever be drawn forward.

x

Picking up broken words
Snipping the tips off
Grinding down the long ones
That wind around your eardrums
Dangerous plastic words
For crowd dispersal
And dumb dumb words
That could blow your head off
This is a story 'bout the three of us
Down by the water and the tide is rising
This world is burning and I'm terrified
I need a little more time with you, oh
I just need a little more time with you
One fine day you'll sing
Your inevitable love song
Inevitable lie song
Inevitable cry son

"It wasn't necessary to win for the story to be great, it was only necessary to sacrifice everything."

"...sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself..."
— Donald Miller

chasing Hallelujah...

I was giving up. I would have given up – ... if a voice hadn't made itself heard in my heart. The voice said, "I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen."
(2.53.5, Life of Pi, Yann Martel)