{"id":44958,"title":"Dancing Darlings","description":"Dancing Darlings","content":"<p><\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/xxmlj6ucmmxznf4zb0jqneviphmstkngghncgqvstrx0azpj.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" alt=\"xxmlj6ucmmxznf4zb0jqneviphmstkngghncgqvstrx0azpj.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" \/>In the contratiempo, I miss me.<\/p><p>Not you, the me you knew,<\/p><p>the me that slipped past<\/p><p>without noticing tables, corners, edges.<\/p><p>My elbow catches a table I didn\u2019t move,<\/p><p>and I think: I am still here.<\/p><p>A spoon tilts in the mug<\/p><p>and almost catches my eye.<\/p><p>How small these things feel<\/p><p>until they are the loudest.<\/p><p>The way I miss you<\/p><p>in the small noises I make,<\/p><p>the ones you no longer hear.<\/p><p>The kitchen is too small.<\/p><p>Every movement is a negotiation.<\/p><p>The knife nudges the counter,<\/p><p>a soft clang that startles me;<\/p><p>the pan tilts slightly on the hob,<\/p><p>and I realise I am holding myself up<\/p><p>more than the countertop.<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/anjjkcnsk0sv56it8k76idfgta9uxb1swbvehd8eyllgtraq.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" alt=\"anjjkcnsk0sv56it8k76idfgta9uxb1swbvehd8eyllgtraq.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" \/>If goodbyes are life\u2019s punctuation,<\/p><p>then ours is the ellipsis,<\/p><p>the kind that doesn\u2019t signal an end<\/p><p>but a hesitation,<\/p><p>a space swollen with things unsaid.<\/p><p>It\u2019s not a neat, tidy full stop;<\/p><p>it\u2019s the pause when you\u2019re not quite sure.<\/p><p>There\u2019s a generosity in that kind of silence,<\/p><p>a kind of kindness that says,<\/p><p>\u201cI\u2019m not closing the door,<\/p><p>but I\u2019m not stepping through it either.\u201d<\/p><p>It\u2019s where memories wait<\/p><p>and where you can still feel the pressure of presence,<\/p><p>even in absence.<\/p><p>And maybe that\u2019s the thing about goodbyes,<\/p><p>sometimes they\u2019re less about leaving<\/p><p>and more about holding on,<\/p><p>not tightly,<\/p><p>but just enough<\/p><p>to know what you had<\/p><p>doesn\u2019t vanish the moment you stop speaking.<\/p><p>So ours is a goodbye that stays,<\/p><p>a soft space<\/p><p>that doesn\u2019t rush to finish<\/p><p>but lingers,<\/p><p>waiting,<\/p><p>maybe hoping<\/p><p>for more to be said.<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/r6eoipqsmictpsfv1gke1pfbzv3o11o64dzobzknaublnjqs.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" alt=\"r6eoipqsmictpsfv1gke1pfbzv3o11o64dzobzknaublnjqs.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" \/>Colours don\u2019t ask permission.<\/p><p>They burst through the long, dark winters<\/p><p>like a rebellion,<\/p><p>pushing against the heavy grey depressions.<\/p><p>Wearing bright colours in the dead of winter<\/p><p>is its own kind of resistance, isn\u2019t it?<\/p><p>Like stepping out and saying,<\/p><p>\u201cHere I am, and I refuse to blend in with the dullness.\u201d<\/p><p>Where the world seems to fold into itself,<\/p><p>muted and cold,<\/p><p>the colours flare up,<\/p><p>brash, unapologetic, stubborn.<\/p><p>There\u2019s a kind of nerve to it,<\/p><p>a boldness in choosing to be colourful, beautiful.<\/p><p>It\u2019s less about vanity<\/p><p>and more about survival,<\/p><p>because when everything outside feels so dead,<\/p><p>wrapping yourself in something vivid<\/p><p>becomes a way to hold on,<\/p><p>to spark some life<\/p><p>where there\u2019s supposed to be none.<\/p><p>Colours are the insurgents of the season,<\/p><p>refusing to be swallowed by the long night,<\/p><p>reminding us\u2014without words\u2014<\/p><p>that life doesn\u2019t pause,<\/p><p>even when everything else seems to freeze.<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/qjx5aoz6enbsp1vavlls8kvzmj80kqoyqc6itmkggrhjbn25.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" alt=\"qjx5aoz6enbsp1vavlls8kvzmj80kqoyqc6itmkggrhjbn25.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" \/>Can a book look sad?<\/p><p>Am i saved by another\u2019s tongue,<\/p><p>clumsy, like dancing darlings.<\/p><p>That\u2019s how the words come sometimes,<\/p><p>not smooth or practiced,<\/p><p>but tripping over themselves.<\/p><p>The language is tangled, unsure,<\/p><p>fumbling for connection,<\/p><p>but it\u2019s still a lifeline.<\/p><p>Because when you speak with someone else\u2019s voice,<\/p><p>when your own tongue is uncertain,<\/p><p>there\u2019s a strange kind of salvation.<\/p><p>i am saved by the willingness<\/p><p>to keep trying,<\/p><p>to be clumsy together.<\/p>","urlTitle":"dancing-darlings","url":"\/blog\/dancing-darlings\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/dancing-darlings\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/lostcampitos.com\/blog\/dancing-darlings\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1734135926,"updatedAt":1762385210,"publishedAt":1762385209,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":209850,"name":"Lost Campitos"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ikmbxrmd0fsoikeaboimw5tfbyhul2twxmhiwmvpsfunrj7x.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ikmbxrmd0fsoikeaboimw5tfbyhul2twxmhiwmvpsfunrj7x.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ikmbxrmd0fsoikeaboimw5tfbyhul2twxmhiwmvpsfunrj7x.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":34048,"title":"The Misplaced Trust in a Managed Wilderness","url":"\/blog\/the-misplaced-trust-in-a-managed-wilderness\/","urlTitle":"the-misplaced-trust-in-a-managed-wilderness","division":209850,"description":"We see ourselves as architects of our environment who are able to shape and mould it to our designs and ambitions. 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