Sometimes there is a clear path we march along, our heads held high, our goal in sight. But more often we are led down the abstract way where the twists and turns are so jagged that we can't see our way forward. We keep moving along because we have no choice…that is what life asks of us.

As we take each step our journey is fueled by the hope that the answers we seek are up ahead…just around the bend of the abstract way.

Chapter 54-Robert Mapplethorpe

This time when he carries me to the bedroom we make love slowly in the bright noon light from my open windows. Beautifully naked, he is rendered in hot highlights and dark cast shadows making his beard stubble and every muscle exaggeratedly dimensional. I crave the softer light of a Robert Mapplethorpe photograph, ethereal and clean, yet there is truth in this harsh spotlight.