And you’re in love?
“Ma, we’ve never even kissed.”
And that has anything to do with it?
“Okay, fine. Yes, I think so”
“But don’t tell anyone. Don’t even repeat it to yourself.”
Why?
“Because it’s humiliating.”
Sweetheart, love isn’t humiliating. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that?
“Who would have told me that?”
Do you know the word humiliate comes from the Latin root humus, which means ‘earth’? That’s how love is supposed to feel.
“Like hummus?”
Like earth. It grounds you.
All this nonsense about love making you feel high, that’s not real. It should hold you like the earth.
“Wow, Ma.”
What? I have a heart, don’t I?
- Coco Mellors, Cleopatra and Frankenstein
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Poetry Again
I don’t care what the movies say, this is what love is.
You turned the water to cold after you finished washing your hands
Because you saw me waiting to get a drink.
You didn’t have to do that.
You smiled as soon as you made eye contact with me
Even though you were obviously sad.
You didn’t have to do that.
You gave me your moisturizer once you finished taking my makeup off
Because you said the cleanser was stripping.
You didn’t have to do that.
You waited for me while the rest of the group climbed down the hill
Even though I was so slow, you didn’t make it seem like a chore
You didn’t have to do that.
You told me you liked my skirt when I said I liked your outfit
Even though we were shouting across a parking lot.
You didn’t have to do that.
You gave me your old sweatshirts to try on for the winter
Even though it was midsummer.
You didn’t have to do that.
You forced your mom to give me a ride that was well out of your way
Even though you knew you’d get in trouble when I left.
You didn’t have to do that.
You let me slack off on all the chores that you needed me to do
Because you knew I had a bad day.
You didn’t have to do that.
You promised me that that bad thing would never happen again,
Even though it wasn’t your fault.
You didn’t have to do that.
You yelled at me for an hour to talk me out of something stupid
Even though you’d had a long day at work.
You didn’t have to do that.
You stopped to read this thing that I wrote
Even though you were busy.
You didn’t have to do that.
You got her another sucker when she dropped hers on the floor
Before she had even started to cry.
You didn’t have to do that.
You laughed at his joke even though it was kind of stupid
Because you knew he was trying.
You didn’t have to do that.
You helped her memorize her lines as the deadline was coming up,
Even though y’all weren’t in a single scene together.
You didn’t have to do that.
You bristled and took control of the conversation immediately
Because she was seconds away from crying.
You didn’t have to do that.
You took your vacation hours to help take care of her when she was sick
Even though you didn’t know how much longer she’d live.
You didn’t have to do that.
Some of you are strangers that I’ll never meet again
Some of you I’m sure will be in my life forever
Some of you I’ve never even spoken to
But I don’t care what the movies say
This is what love is.
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