Te Amo, Alberto...

And Still, I Love

You thought that was the end.
So did I.
We said our soft goodbyes,
Carved dignity into our distance,
Folded the love neatly
Like a letter we couldn’t send.

But then…
Something lingered.
A name I couldn’t speak without warmth.
A smile I still saw in my morning tea.
A tug in the chest
Whenever the sky burned the same color as the day you left.
I tried to let go.
God knows I did.
I told myself you were a lesson,
A season,
A song played once at midnight.

But love like that
It doesn’t listen.
It taps and waits.
It dares.
It burns slowly,
And refuses to turn to ash.
And as stubborn as I am
You know me
I leaned back in.
I reached,
Risked,
Relit the spark
With trembling hands.

And you…
You answered.
You loved me right back.
Not with fireworks.
But with steadiness.
Like roots breaking through dry ground.
Like faith.
Like water returning to a thirsty place.

So no, this wasn’t the end.
It was the pause before the crescendo.
The silence between two notes meant to meet again.
You are not my past.
You are the love that circled back,
Proving that some fires don’t die—
They wait for air.

And now?
We burn.
We blaze.
We rise.
And still,
I love.