My marriage ended but I didn’t.

I’m sad to say that I’m getting good at the pulling-away part. I used to sink like cement to the bottom of the sea, lose half my weight and forget how to sleep. But not now. Now I know myself. My core is seasoned and wise. 

I grieve, I dream of loss and separation but rise again like the moon. There is no sinking, only a look at the cycles that bring people into my life for a time and a purpose, then washes them out again, both of us better for the experience, both of us enriched. 

I tucked my wedding ring in the corner of my jewelry box and bought bands of hematite instead. They are black and round, like a midnight moon. The label said they’re used for protection. The word hermit hides in the description.