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Chanti's avatar

The lines 'you make me be more than my hell' I reminded how love can make us want to outrun our own darkness just to be worthy of someone's smile.

Aetherias Moon's avatar

I like the simplistic beauty of this poem! What a sweet love letter!

imarkanx || istvan markan 🍁's avatar

Thank you. I wanted to post something gentler and softer than the Substack fare I had recently been seeing.

Antonio Castellaneta's avatar

That last line changed the whole poem for me, Istvan. I was following the halo, the longing, the promise of salvation… and then “when we lie” opened something much more uncertain beneath it all. I had to go back and read it again. Beautifully done.

imarkanx || istvan markan 🍁's avatar

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! It’s satisfying to know my intent came through.

I kept playing with that final stanza. Tiny revisions and then it became clear I needed that last line to offer both clarity and ambiguity.

Diamonds are beautiful because they are imperfect inside. The way we shape them captures the halo caused by the distortion.