What Is All This For?

The other day, after finishing the poem in this post, I was thinking about the reason I write. What is my goal with all this poetry? It has drifted beyond the cathartic release of emotion to deal with a whirlwind of life altering events— all contained within less than a years time. The answer came to me quite simply, to lay the foundations of safety for men to experience their feelings and release themselves from the death grip society has on their feelings and emotions. Which is an evolution from why I began writing when I was so young: books were my escape from reality and I wanted more than to escape; but, perhaps, one day create something that children going through what I experienced could find a way to navigate to safety. When we talk about legacy, it is really all the legacy I want—and it is a legacy I will never know if I fulfill.

(This was initially started as an erotic poem, what was written was more intimate the entanglement of two naked bodies)

WERE HER THOUGHTS OF ME?

She lay naked beside me,

I traced a heart upon her arm-

And wondered:

Were her dreams of me?

My thoughts drifting to the love I wanted her to know.

And then some more:

Would she wake in the morning, never to return?

The fear left inside from those before,

Crushed my soul and I turned my back.

The cold air chilling my bare skin, a simile of my heart.

A hand grasped my shoulder,

Pulling me to her,

The warmth of our bodies now kindling—

She whispered in my ear: I love you.

My heart burst with fire.

—EJB