A letter to the Dearest Self—

I awoke this morning with you wrapped
in my heart, caressing my toes with down
and tickling my senses with sweet morning
breathe. Yellow ash knocks on my windows
beckoning me to leave the comfort
of dependency. Love settled on my cheeks
while hate matured in my stomach.

I am the you I should love
unconditionally for eternity
without secrets whispering
sublunar chants of promise.

Conspiratorious soul left me dumb
behind the falling in extravagant fancy
for another. I am the I I ought not
dispose to nothing for the halflove
of him.

A promise I made to myself:
Dear self be uninhibited
be weightless to float
like an empty Key Food
grocery bag in the air
passing stoop by stoop
by stoop


My good friend, Alice Walker, offered some advice by saying;

“Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
Tame wild disappointment
With caress unmoved and cold
Make of it a parka
For your soul.”