Ancestral Love Lessons

One

They built altars of uncertainty on our broken hearts.

We forgot the meanings of our own names, only to be called something ungodly. We clung to the unknown groans, and wails to stave off our demise. We listened to the waters for familiar sounds and imagined ourselves free. Death was laid at our feet as an offering to our becoming.

Yet, we could not find the holy in it.

As our bodies broke against the crashing waves, our new reality became clear: we would always have to fight. Our love saved us from submitting. It was us, at that moment, who guided the paths for the future.

In our taciturn reality, our spirits were shattered. We gathered them in small jars. Burying the pieces in this new land so we could be reborn.

Our tears watered the earth and our bodies became ritual for the possibilities love, spirit, and remembering could bring.

Two

graves
have a way
of burying themselves.
all rotting flesh, decaying bones, and memories.
all hopelessness, lost dreams, and infinity.
they whisper their intentions deep within the marrow.

time unfolds to soften their wails to love songs.
giving permission to cherish what was once broken.
easeful melodies make release simple.

Spirit gathers the elements in service to new beginnings.
Earth to softening the root,
Fire infused in the chambers of the heart,
Water to bless tongue,
Air to usher in surrender.

the dead release us from our suffering.
offer us a lineage of lessons in service of boldness.
remind us not to be ashamed of desire,
and rejoice in our ability to love without fear.

Three

you seem familiar to me
my skin trembles in the wake of your laughter
the essence of you settles into my bones like memory
i create worlds of wonder with your imagination in mind
will we reincarnate love lost over stardust,
or circle this old story?

Four

The portal was opened by whale songs.
Their echoes rich
with the voices
of our ancestors
reminded us.

There is something bigger here.
We are their dreams become manifest.
Able to utter a language they only imagined.
We are the reflection of longing.
Our belonging weaves together lineages lost
Stories commingle
creating cartography
for journeys towards the unknown.
We hold our “Yes” as sacred incense perfuming this ritual.
We allow ourselves to get lost
deep in the breath of the echo.
We aren’t sure if it is water or air,
but we just keep inhaling.
Our lungs are filled
with whispered prayers at altars.
Reclaiming what we once desired.
After all
we were born
into this moment for a reason.
And our purpose is thicker than just “You and I”
but as simple as “Us”.