Benediction Go now, beloved, and do not shrink. Let your love be as large as your lineage, as full as your hunger, as unapologetic as your shadow at noon. Hold your history like a torch, not a wound. And when they do not stay— let them go. You were not built to be abandoned. You were built to become. Feed those who stay. Kiss those who honor. Touch those who listen. And above all, return to your own arms when the night comes calling. You are the prayer. You are the fire. You are the last word on your own worth. And no one, not even silence, gets to answer for you. Amen. And Ashe. And so it is.