Harm is not simple. Accountability is not simple. But complexity is not an excuse. Trauma is not an excuse. Addiction is not an excuse. Loneliness is not an excuse. Poetry is not an excuse. Tenderness is not an excuse. A person can be wounded and still wound others. A person can be suffering and still be responsible for the choices they make. Violet had spent her entire life learning how to love people who suffered. She had also spent her entire life learning the cost of confusing love with protection from consequences.