play

you use that word a lot

i’m not sure what you mean

/

my heart

falls free

into

an ache

/

when did we forget?

why did we forget?

/

legacies

generations

leaving behind fragments

of our humanity

/

does no good to blame

they were only

following suit

as were the ones before

.

exploration

curiosity

not having to do

not having to perform

/

simply being

space to fail

/

or better yet—

space where failure does not exist

/

release from performance

release from perfection

release from prescription

/

moving into openness

moving into wholeness

maybe even a little wild

/

here

present

free

.

---

i voice-to-texted this poem into an email to myself on thursday morning while walking on the fife coastal path. for a couple of months, the words that start the poem have been sifting internally. someone said that to me about my use of the word ‘play,’ and i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.