Old Poems, Greetings from Abroad

I'm traveling for eleven days in Senegal, the west-most country in Africa. As I write this, I'm riding in a van through Saint-Louis, situated on the coast of the Atlantic with the Senegal River running through its heart. The streets are bustling with buses, cars, taxis, horse-drawn carts, motorcycles, cyclists, and people. The traffic weaves and flows through tight spaces, no one raging to get through. On the sidewalks, women and men gather around market stalls overflowing with foods such as mangoes, ginger, coconuts, and okra. Some lounge contemplatively in chairs while others smile and laugh. Behind them, shops offer a selection of clothes, shoes, bags, and baskets. Construction workers mill on the sites of new structures and fishermen prepare for a day out on their brightly painted boats. Greetings of "Assalamualaikum" and "Ça va" fill the salty air.

I'm here to support a study abroad group and document their trip to promote it to future students. After this, I'll be heading to Germany to visit my friend for a week. I haven't traveled overseas since 2017 and I've never been to Africa nor Europe until now. Even my two-night stay in New York City before flying to Dakar was a first time visit. I'm looking forward to reflecting on my journey after I return home - it's so nonstop busy that I don't have time to process each day. I’m trying to remain more in my body than my head, letting the experiences soak in. Even so, I don't want to neglect my writing practice. 

In the spirit of upholding this space, I'd like to share two poems I wrote from December 2022 - January 2023. I'm working on an essay about romance and polyamory, so I think these will offer a good introduction. I may incorporate more astrological deep-dives into my own chart, especially my eighth house in Sagittarius. With the sun now in the curious realm of Gemini, ready to ask questions and open minds, I've been running into old beliefs/experiences that want me to withhold expressing my full, authentic, passionate love. I appreciate my shadows seeking to protect me, but I want to overflow without fear of punishment for my feelings. I sense that I'll find healing on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis.

These are poems I wrote from a place of love and devotion towards others. I’m including them as photos at the end in case anything funny happens with formatting. Thank you all for being here - I hope you're taking care and feeling open to the love you receive. Enjoy ~

Boats docked on the edge of Guet N'dar, the fishing village of Saint-Louis

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Warmth Spilling Over

I'm thinking of what our hands make
and the ways we worship:

weaving our bodies together and apart,
water gently filling in the gaps.

We hold space that isn't nothing,
our fingers reaching through sunfire.

I wish I could write the feeling of skin
and bone and flooding and eating.

The way we gasp each other's names as
offerings on the altar of our tongues.

Here is my devotion to your veins. My
faith I am found in the blood you carry.

I don't need to swallow the ocean whole
or know every language of the rain.

What matters is listening to the breath
sighing from the chest beside me.

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New Year, 2023

cigarette smoke lingers
on pea coats and tongues
and fingers. we're quitting
after the next pack or the
one after that. it doesn't
really matter the reason
we keep inhaling the same
smoke. we love the way it
tastes on each other and
the way we feel when we're
breathing it together. one 
day we'll find a vice that
won't kill us so slowly. 

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