This is a beautiful essay. And the lines of poetry at the end, a kind of delicious summary. Just yesterday I was musing about the best kinds of stories... The best stories refuse to stay in their word-crafted lanes. Refuse reduction to a kind of linear, logical set of steps between here and there. Rather, such stories are pointers, lifting us up and off the ground, as we rise into places we can go and do go, but can't explain.