Thank you
- Thank you for giving me Friday off
- Thank you for letting me go to High Fitness Friday
- Thank you for letting me know about Body Combat classes today
- Thank you for my peace
- Thank you for my time
- Thank you for your guidance
SLOW
These beautiful animals
They’re silly and goofy and cuddly and they teach me so much
They teach me to relax
To enjoy
To bask in the glory that is the sun
They teach me that life is better with others
They teach me to float
To just keep swimming
To enjoy
To always be curious
To be vocal and speak up for myself
To check in
To hold others close
To be
To exist
To know that existing is enough
To know that breathing is enough
To know that sometimes life is just laying on a rock or floating in a pool
They teach me to rest
To relax
To be okay with nothing
And everything
To have fun
To let go of control
To be ready and to be patient
To have faith
And now the taste and feel of salt water is sentimental for me
When I’m in the pool and it doesn’t taste like salt I miss it
I want to be with them
I want to swim with them
And dive in
I want to play
and team
I want to build
and feel
I want to practice
and give
I want to talk
and study
I want to touch
and dance
I want to introduce them to my friends and family and every stranger possible
There's This Thing
Whenever I’m lying next to you
and I lean away
and I reach across to get something
you do this thing -
out of instinct -
As I lean away,
off balance,
off kilter,
uncertain,
alone,
so ready to be independent,
stretching my body to its limits,
reaching for something that might be too far away,
that might be too risky,
that perhaps I wouldn’t really ever be able to reach -
you
you hold me.
You place your arm underneath me
and you support me as I stretch.
You make sure I don’t fall over and land on my face.
You just hold me
without words
without questions
And in that moment you tell me
I am supported
I am cared for
I am allowed
I am held
For a moment,
you take the weight of the world off my shoulders
and carry it yourself
You remind me
I don’t need to be alone
I don’t need to do it all myself
In one movement
In one motion
Like a mother
putting their hand up in front of the passengers’ seat
Like a father
holding the hand of his two year old daughter as she struggles up the stairs
Like a rubberband around a block of celery
Or a plastic bag around a pound of produce
You keep me held together
For a moment
You allow me to come undone
For a moment
Alone and not alone
Together and apart
As you hold me
You allow me
To fall apart within the bounds of you
For a moment
Red Lipstick
that makes me shine
That helps me breathe fire
That connects me with every single woman who has ever lived
Who has ever risked
Who has ever experienced boldness
Or richness
Or what it means to embody sexiness like a lioness
There’s something about red lipstick that connects me with every player who has ever dared to grace that stage
Male
Female
Nonbinary
Nonconforming
Drawing attention to their lips
Puffy and full
Thin and meek
Forcing themselves to be visible
Strong and weak
Unwilling to go unseen
Unnoticed
Thrilled to paint their lips the color of the rich blood that lies beneath their skin
All shades
All likenesses
The warriors of the arts
The witches of the stage
The storytellers of the world
The muses
The enthuses
Singing
Dancing
Speaking
Moving their bodies to their limits
Refusing to do anything but entertain
Knowing their place in this world is to entertain
Not only to bring joy
But to bring feeling
To test emotion
To reveal a depth to the human spirit that has henceforth been freed
So if you have a question
Or a concern
You can take it up with my lips as they burn
the brightest of red
You can shake your head
Or worry about me as you lie in your bed
But know that I'm living my very best life
From here to tomorrow, for all of my life
It feels good to have hope
It feels good to fantasize and use someone else to cope
Because we all want to be needed
We all want to be desired
We all need someone else to tell us we set them on fire
Days.
I’ve been waiting for you for days.
Months.
Years.