For what it may be worth, you should
know that I respect your strength
for surviving, under pressure,
an onslaught I did not.
I fell here, watched
and criticized by everyone
for defending myself.
But you were not abandoned
and forced to choose your path
as I was. So, I walk alone, for all to see;
before me falls a single shadow,
my only remaining companion
who also walks alone,
a single figure under the spotlight.