showing her how

what's a mama to do when she watches a part of her soul that lives
outside of her body,
hurt
struggle
fumble
what's a mama to do when all she wants is to
rescue
save
fix

mama's,
observe//
as you have since our first breath
listen//
as you have done since our first cry
hold//
as you have since our eyes first locked

mama's,
we must hurt to know joy
we must struggle to know how to endure
we must fumble to be confident taking up space

mama's,
we will rescue ourselves
we will save ourselves
we will uncover we're not broken.

mama,
you've been showing me how all along.

the entire ocean in one drop

i’m not a very good swimmer
yet
swimming your seas comes with a type of ease
i can dive right into–

sea of complexity, that proves to me humanity
is worth fighting for.
tidal waves of myself in another lifetime
dreaming about these very experiences, imagining these very
conversations.
drowning in the disbelief that a colonial chokehold almost
extinguished this existence

from the water i can hear the trumpets in the night
joyous notes, crashing waves
a sound my brain tells me i am hearing for the first time, yet my body
already knows the rhythm–
a rhythm my soul remembered when i met you.

you are a
salt water bath;
a ritual
a ceremony
the entire ocean in one drop.

baptize me with your waters
show me the ways love heals all
bring me back to my natural vibration
hold my hand through the uprising

we are the ones we have been waiting for

-for ocean

lullabies of long goodbyes

i want to know what you taste like
already acquainted with tobacco breath and preferences of what
nourishes you

i want to know what you taste like
feasting on your mind, salivating on your soul

as my heart sings lullabies of long goodbyes, i double down on
desire--
library of lifetimes to get lost in

i don't know these stories--
and still, the spine of these books are interchangeable with the spine
in my back--
keeping me bound together, keeping me whole.

-even though you are the book, we still need to write our own story

inches and miles

have you ever stopped to realize that to some ones inch you have given a mile?
instead of travelling the distance together, the mile is being used to keep their space
space disguised as sitting on a back burner just hot enough to stay on
space that is disguised as the inability to give thyself permission that
you wanted more-- that you deserve more
miles to practice navigating the highway to highest self
miles to rest your head at the hotel of hope to dream new dreams, to
learn to lay enveloped in love
you're going to get lost
you are going to call your brain in for directions, but you cannot get directions to a place ain't nobody ever been before, baby.
listen to your heart
the map of your heart will always know the way, will always show the way
less direction, more introspection.
i move in miles
some folks move in inches
there is no right way to travel, but... i suggest going together.