Hour 10–What is Love?
What is love she said
ya got me he said
then he said let’s kiss and see if it happens
Hour 10: “Psych Ward Dragonflies”
Sterile white walls hide the maniacal sorrow,
Frame the wide windows facing nearby rooftops,
Through these endless wells of pouring desire,
she laughs and cries, looking at the same
fields disappearing in the distance.
On mornings after the rain, shallow pools adorn the roof,
where dragonflies gaily dance from each sheening surface.
Their tails entwined, skipping along the water. She cries.
She cries. And the dragonflies dance.
How sad it is to live for anything that blooms against the tide.
The heavy veil that blankets all, disconnecting
everything that meant more than what it first appeared.
How sad the synapses in her mind, growing weaker,
like the eroding gravity of cerebral stars,
senses can’t recall her best memories anymore,
there is only the recognition that it’s slipping further away,
just like the dragonflies dancing from pool to pool,
while all the world is in its final act.
How sad it is, as it all falls to emptiness.
The mind, the universe,
the universe within the mind.
What Is Love If Not Lasting?
What is love if not unconditional?
What is love if not unbelievable?
What does it mean to offer your heart, to the other additional?
What does it mean when love is conceivable?
Is it a ring of gold or diamond to express the gem in the rough?
Is it a chain built through lies and disbelieving truths?
Is the care of heart a bound to cuffs?
Or is it a bound of everlasting, reaching to the youths?
What is love if not unconditional?
What is hate if not unbelievable?
Whether it may be casual or traditional
Whether it is easy of hard to be achievable
What is love if not from a heart irretrievable?
Hour 5: Xena
4 years ago, while madly in love, I drove to California
It took me 3 days, 2 gallons of coffee, and one mental breakdown
This February, I bought a puppy
She is the first dog I have owned since childhood
The drive had nothing to do with being in love
I was visiting family. My partner was 8,000 miles away
My puppy’s name is Xena, like the warrior princess
I guess I’m hoping she rubs off on me like that
My family and I walked through the streets of Palm Springs
Little shops were around every corner
Xena is headstrong and rambunctious
“Cuddles” is her favorite word
As we passed by one shop, I saw a dress on sale
It was everything I thought a wedding gown should be
Xena passed obedience training at the top of her class
The trainer couldn’t believe how well-behaved she was
The dress fit me perfectly and I cried
$400 later, it was mine
Xena is training to be a service dog
I bought her at the advice of my psychiatrist
I kept the dress a secret
My partner and I had talked about the future, but we weren’t engaged
Xena was $1,000
I got her when she was 3 months old
I figured there was no harm in buying a dress early
When would I ever find a dress like that again?
Xena’s training costs $2,995
By this time next year, she will be fully trained
We had been together a year and a half
I knew he was the man I’d marry
Xena is supposed to be the one that helps me
I don’t do well living in society
Yesterday, I found Xena next to my dress
It was in tatters. There were beads all over the floor
2 months after I bought that dress 4 years ago
I broke up with the man I thought I’d marry
Xena is helping me learn to live alone
I can’t believe how well she understands her task
Hour 10: Shangri-La
When you look up the meaning of the word
“Shangri-La”
It describes a paradise
Enduringly happy
Isolated from the world
It is also
Imaginary
We called them “Shangri-La Days”
And they could not have been described better
A bubble of happiness
Where the world cannot harm you
And you will live forever
And just like the place
It is farcical
But I like to believe
We are still there
Laughing and singing
And nothing has changed
My Air pods
I never leave home without them
My ears levitate at every beat
Shielding me from mayhem
The ugly words that men spit
Your lips are moving
Glad I can’t hear a thing
I won’t take them off either
I know your words are bitter
Despite all odds
It’s me and my air pods
Remember I’m not alone
Music is a world of its own
Poem 10, What is love
A gentle touch,
something small like
a belief in you,
words used genuinely to build you
and comfort you.
Compassion wrapped in a gift,
warmth you can feel without standing close;
a promise that you matter
is love.
HOUR 10: WHAT IS LOVE
The
Most
Remarkable
Biochemical
Oreo
A
Person
Could
Hope
To
Twist
Apart
Hour 10, Poem 13
What is Love?
What is love if not a poem?
Wtitten, spoken, expressed, hidden
What is love if not a story?
Told, heard, repeated, forgotten
What is love if not a song?
Hummed, sung, played, faded
What is love if not a picture?
Drawn, admired, appreciated, torn
What is love if not your presence?
There, needed, neglected, gone
What is love if not regret?
Felt, kept, revisited, locked
What is love if not you and I?
There, together, staying, forever.