I forgive you

I forgive you for growing

a capacity for love

out of loneliness

I forgive you for conflating

desire with care

I forgive you for carving

a home of hollowed evocation

in the heart of a stranger

who deserved better

than sulking reflections

I forgive you for longing

for lost words unfolded

as I guide you to walk

across the desecrated

dignity of those who came before

could, should, wouldn't 

words that've lost their meanings

words I could never claim as my own