Dolly Parton

fierce grace

there is a way to leave

without making yourself smaller

and without setting anything on fire.

I Will Always Love You is not about loss.

it’s about self-possession.

it says:

i loved you.

i still do.

and i am going.

no blame.

no bargaining.

no erasure.

just a clean exit

with the heart intact

and the spine online.

this is grace with boundaries.

anger that learned timing.

love that doesn’t confuse itself with obligation.

dolly never hardened to survive.

she softened with structure.

she let people underestimate her

while she kept the joke,

kept the joy,

kept the rights,

kept the door.

this is how you walk away

without losing your virtues —

you carry them with you,

stronger for having been tested.

fierce grace is not quiet because it’s weak.

it’s quiet because it knows

it doesn’t have to explain itself.