craving and restless
at a loss
knowing my medicine
and not taking it
to suffer; a tradition passed down
through our bodies
attempting to work against it
sharing time
with water helps to heal
the wounds, silence the cries
She’s called Daphe, the woman running the business training out of her Notting Hill home.
The Thames curves south from here by Chelsea, sluggish brown. The city’s awake and burning.
Have you been to see the damage yet? he asks, in our snatched conversation.
Almost gleeful in his hunger to hear details about the tower block which blazed leaving so many people missing or dead.
He says there’s photographs of the missing stuck to tree trucks, walls and railings. Black, brown and olive skinned and missing.
I don’t want to see this suffering. The ruins becoming a tourist attraction. Leave them with some dignity. Always having to endure the gaze in life and death.
sensuous
free
body
burning
deep
communion
skin to skin
slip and slide
glide and glove
fit together
is such
a delicious
way to be
uncomfortable sensations which can only be described as pain course straight to the core
to release endorphins of joy
the outlook is better
the outlook is golden
the outlook is diamond
the outlook is bright
the outlook is purple
the outlook is a gift
I want to send out a love that feels hard to the people so when they feel it they pay attention.
That they don’t dismiss it as soft.
I want them to feel it in their gut like a punch. Recall the power.
That they don’t miss the promise it holds.
Yes, I want to send out a love that feels hard to the world so they stop taking it for granted.
That they don’t forget to send it back to me.
calloused feet
swollen ankles
bloated calves
rheumatic knees
tumbling thighs
spreading backside
wobbling belly
hanging breasts
chalky elbows
constricted throat
wide open mouth
speaking blossoms
haloed Afro
water. sea. ocean.
the black body. from Mother stolen.
learning to swim. for freedom.
foam. air. white.
the black body. walk back home.
Learning to die. for freedom.
“The only way to understand a land is to walk it. The only way to drink in its real meaning is to keep it firmly beneath one’s feet … Only the walker can form the wider view.” – Sinclair McKay
Living Wild Studios 