Love

Love has always been projected as between a man and woman … leading to either tragedy or happily ever after.  This heteronormative image has been created and reinforced over and over through preaching,  family tales, literature, societal events and pop culture.

But the beauty of love is that it is universal, all encompassing, life giving and truly diverse … if only we allow ourselves to see it beyond the narrative.

Isnt it love when …

You run to meet your friend and talk and laugh without a care

You wait up worrying when someone is out no matter who

You hold the hand of someone in pain or despair

You find someone coming from nowhere to help you

You cook for someone to enjoy and nourish

A gardener tends to a plant

A pet greets you when you return home

A familiar storeowner smiles in acknowledgment of your presence

A doctor is thinking of what is the best way to healing you

A nurse who is holding you while urging you to do what you need to

A stranger holds out the door for you or gives you a seat

You tend to someone ill

Someone makes you tea or coffee

Someone carries you a gift  

Someone  waits to share their good news with you

Someone reaches out in pain

Someone’s eyes lights up seeing you

When you feel the warmth in a hug

When someone calls to ask how you are doing

Love is present … at all times .   

It is projected as something you seek outside of the self, directed to the outer space . So it is made of a narrow definition,  but the person who loves you most is most ignored …  yourself .  Leaving you with a few lines from Dereck Walcott :

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.