Swimming Lessons

Love is like water. Vast and mysterious. Hypnotizing. Some parts booming like rogue waves and just as unexpected. Other parts quiet and unassuming like a slow moving river. But just a beautiful. Just as full of life and wonder. Both necessities and brimming with secrets. Not every being can survive in every body of water. Love is equally as multifaceted. Such as the water that creates the oceans, we all need need love to survive, but very few give it the reverence it deserves. Polluting it with litter that kills everything fighting to survive inside of it. Few try to save it, others have given up and forgotten the phenomenon it once was.

But all is not lost. Though the problems it faces seems insurmountable, the ocean is vast. That's part of it's power. It's bigness. It's ability to be vulnerable in it's ferocity. As many forces are working against it, the ocean works to protect its inhabitants. For billions of years, despite meteors and hurricanes, even the most infinitesimal creatures are encouraged to blossom in its wonder.

Seems only waste and human ego are the ocean's...and love's only real enemies.

I've waded...waited through those waters. Warm and inviting...or frigid and unwelcoming. One love was an ocean. Grand in size. Immense in it's depth. When it was warm, I swam until my arms got tired, then floated on my back with the sun on my face. When the cold currents came in and shocked me, I fought for the pleasant warm waters from the past until frostbitten. Frozen in time. Trying to drift on a memory. I loved that ocean even when the waters weren't clear. I've encountered a stream, a puddle, a raindrop or two after that. But I haven't swam in years. Dampened by the humidity, happily knowing I'll never dip my toes in the ocean of the past again.

Love in all of its forms, is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. Romantic. Platonic. Familial. What you thought was love, but was really infatuation. Every aspect comes with its own lessons and gifts. Some lessons harder than others. Some gifts, more pleasant. The tides of love come in and recede. No matter the currents you've experienced before, never be afraid to swim

“Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” 
― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God


...dig and be dug...

Black, Magic Woman

They hear the tonality of your voice and are frightened by its strength

I revel in its melody

It rocked me to sleep and welcomed the sun to my face

Made me laugh away my tears and pulled me out of my own hiding place

The most fierce battle cry in war

And yet the sweetest taboo

Your roar brings the fire and your whisper calls the rain

Many dare try to force your silence

But your ancestral line would never allow it

They stand beside you like the invisible wind beneath the wings of a Phoenix

Carrying your power to all 

Beckoning them to join in your crusade

When you warned them and they didn't listen, you turned your chorus into an aria and belted every note from your gut 

Not missing a single note after the kicks and the bruises

They try their best 

Loud threats 

Tanks and guns

The audacity of  pestilent imbeciles who call you out of your name

Even still

They know you can save them all

They know what's been given to you

That it can't be taken away

And even if you ascend to the position of the ones that came before you

They know there will be more

Sent from the same plane as you and the ones that gave you your gifts

And they will fight 

With grace 

On their own terms 

You have been mistreated

Disrespected

Neglected

Shunned

Spat on and dismissed

Yet admired

All at once

They hurt you and then panhandle your mercy 

Which you have offered

But only for a matter of time

The sand in the glass is moving quickly

You have been a force since the day God created you

You may bend

But you will never fold

...dig and be dug...