i miss you the way one misses a hymn: quietly, with hands around the memory of it. i love you in ways that were never meant to ask for anything in return, steady and faithfully.

some loves are offerings, laid gently at the altar and left untouched. so i keep my distance, bow my head and wish you happiness from afar, trusting that joy will find you even if my voice does not.

if nothing else, know this: you are loved, still, always. in the way i breathe, in the way i remember.