Mel

[arsbymel]

XIII·I·MMXXIII

A bar I came to favor.

After speaking with the proprietor about brass, leather, fishing tackle, and matters of classical taste, I found myself returning there again and again.

Not merely for the drink—but for the quiet resonance of shared sensibilities.

[arsbymel]

XXIV·VIII·MMXXII

At a bar I visited for the first time, I encountered a spirit unlike any I had tasted before—intense, unwavering, unforgettable.

When I asked for a fine bourbon, served neat over ice, the bartender placed the bottle before me with quiet precision, as if presenting an artifact rather than a drink.

Strength, warmth, and a slow-burning clarity.

I was relieved to find chocolate there—a small sweetness, anchoring the night.

[arsbymel]

XXII·VII·MMXXII

After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in Thailand, I refused stillness and walked again into the world.

Within less than a week, I found myself wandering through unfamiliar streets, seated in a refined restaurant—eating pizza, drinking a Moscow Mule, as though nothing within me had shifted, and yet everything had.

I remained there for nearly two weeks, suspended between transformation and motion.

Not recovery, but continuation.