i return
not to find
what was missing,
but to discover
what remains.
the road remembers
the child who arrived
with open hands.
the traveler returns
with open eyes.
each visit
loosens another stone
from the heart,
until the weight
i carried for years
becomes
a cairn,
marking not
where i was wounded,
but where
i found my way.
© 2026 Corvalya