Teach the Torches to Burn

by Caleb Roehrig

I’ve finally found something new to explore in Verona, and yet I must wait until a more favorable time. The delay is sweet agony.

Perhaps I can be both who I am and who I am expected to be.

There is no act that could bring shame upon you, because you have nothing to take pride in to begin with!” “I take quite a bit of pride in how much restraint I have shown by not knocking your teeth down your throat,”

“We will teach the torches to burn.”

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I have no idea what the future will bring, because I’ve not decided it yet. Instead, I choose to float in this happiness, and to imagine all the possibilities that lie ahead—for they are as boundless as the sea.

A story about queer people snatching happiness from the jaws of a world that has been fashioned against them. A tale as old as time. As the shadows deepen, and old ugliness awakes to shake its loathsome head against the peace we’ve fought long and hard for, remember this: We cannot be corrected or contained. We are as boundless as the sea, and we will teach the torches to burn bright.