It didn’t take changing you,
it only took knowing you,
discerning which of the signals
refracted between us
were actually true,
and which were interlayered shadows
between projection and perception,
not needing to provoke or be responded to

It only took
holding a steady vision
of that which has always loved you –
letting that be my lens,
making my focus clear.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 17, 2020