The problem with words of emotion
is how easily meaning drains
from their fiddle-sweet sounds
and they become empty instruments.
I can say love
and mean desire to give—
open-handed, open-hearted—
or I am drawn to the light
shining from your soul—
or my life is empty without you—
or I want to run my hands
and mouth down the length of you—
or all of these at once.
Need, now, is a plain word.
I need a nail to hang this picture.
I need money to pay my bills.
I need air and light,
water and food,
shelter from storm and sun and cold.
To be healthy,
to be sane,
to survive,
I need you.
-"Meditation on the Word Need" by Linda Rodriguez, from Heart's Migration
Writings and photos on hope and resilience; love and relationships; life and death; anger and acceptance; and human behavior and beliefs
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The Comfort of Our Loving Chosen Family
I have, by some measure of recklessness or sheer geographic fidgeting, inhabited eight U.S. cities. Birmingham, New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale...
-
Here I sit - nursing a scotch, looking out at the pink and orange reflection of the sunset on the mountain—pondering my solitary act of civi...
-
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first t...
-
The Parable, Redacted A long time ago, a grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing. A wretched thing, laboring away in the heat, a...
No comments:
Post a Comment