I met Aatmarama on a quiet stretch of beach, where the sea was patient to us all. While we struggled with surfboards and waves, he came and lay beside me a stray, perhaps, or perhaps simply free. At some point he rested his head on my arms and slept, as if trust were the most ordinary thing in the world. When we began to leave, I told him not to follow. But he did. Again. And again. I remember thinking then that affection was permission. That if someone chose your company, you could choose for them in return. So I lifted him and took him with me to my shelter, believing I was doing something kind. But kindness that assumes is often just another form of arrogance. My shelter was not safe for him. Something went wrong. He was hurt. Scars where there should have been none. And the anger came quietly, sharp, deserved, and unforgiving. “You were trusted.” “You were family.” “You should have known better.” The words were not loud because of rage alone; they were loud because disapp...
Headlines talk in fire, I answer in code, Public scars flash, private fractures erode. Time loads the chamber, truth stays untold, This year doesn’t end it starts to unfold. JANUARY The news says a blade learned a famous address, walls failed, security blinked, blood answered the door. I learned quieter violence emails shaped like exits, praise wrapped around traps, being asked to kneel by people who once learned how to stand from me. No sirens. Just the sound of self-respect grinding its teeth. FEBRUARY A voice on a screen ignites the country, everyone shouting about limits, decency, law. I watched my own limits rot politely. Dreams packed away like winter clothes, hands busy with dust, water, repetition I clipped myself before anyone else could aim. MARCH A nation wins again, history replayed on loop, gold held high where doubt can’t reach. I won something too then distrusted the silence that followed. Chose the lower ground, because at least it felt solid, even if it brui...