Oh God, if I could sprout wings and fly, I would be gone from this place, great wings bearing me up and up, long feathers hissing in the wind. The world would unfurl below me like a bright scrap on a scroll of paper and there would be nothing holding me to ground. The hills and water courses rushing under me, effortless and simple and me just rising and rising until I was but a dark speck in the clear sky, gone on elsewhere. -Cold Mountain by Charles Frasier

I've heard it said that, rather than love, longing is the most powerful emotion we humans can feel and there is something about this passage that makes me believe that's true. Whether it's the quote itself, the context of the story, or the weight of my life during that time, I can't say, but when I read it I felt a longing so profound that i wanted to always remember. It's been 20ish years. This may well be my Roman Empire.