I try my best to not engage in that sort of interactions. If someone says something negative about someone else, I immediately wonder what they’re saying about me when I’m not there. I don’t know what they gain by it. Once the truth comes out, they look even worse. But they never seem to figure that out until it’s too late. Thank you, Fia

Yes, I still write. When we first met back in college, I began writing her love poems. One of her girlfriends asked me if I would always write her poetry and I told her and the woman I would marry, “I will always write you poetry”. But I stopped, “life” was my excuse. We did not last (5 years total), not because of the poetry, but we began to see life differently and she got a boyfriend instead of us trying to fix things. But, always writing her poetry became a metaphor for my mistakes in our relationship, the things that I did wrong and contributed to our splitting up. I was more the “typical man” and had to learn the hard way to consciously give that shit up. I have believed that it has been this learning process about patriarchy that has made me more humane and a better human being. So yes, I still write her poetry because I never want to forget and want to continue seeing women with mutual respect and equality, as full human beings. Thank you Fia for reading and your kind words.

Thank you, Adelphina. I really appreciate your comment and happy you found it moving. I often think about her, how she’s doing, is she happy, wondering how her life has been. She has always held a piece of my heart. Thanks again, I hope you are well Adelphina.