My Father Mocked Me for Coming to Court Without a Lawyer, But the Judge Opened My File and the Whole Room Went Silent

often only distance shaped by pain.

Enough is not always beautiful. But it is real.

The watch remained on my kitchen table beside the compass for a long time before I moved it. Not because I needed the symbolism in front of me every day, but because the two together told a truth I wasn’t done learning.

One measured where I had come from.

One reminded me continue reading …