hi, friend
I’m not here to add anything pithy or self-serving to your inbox. I am here to say that I hope you’re taking care of yourself. And I also hope, if you have the means, and especially if you are a non-Black reader, you are taking care of others, too.
And, in case you’re looking, here are some important links: Bail Fund Donation list, Black Lives Matter donation page, National Police Accountability Project, Campaign Zero, NAACP “Take Action” page.
If you find writing to be your form of self-care or your form of protest, I hope this week’s prompt is useful for you. I don’t have much more to say. Whether that is unfortunate or not, I don’t know. I hope you are well.
prompt #8:
Today we’re going to explore a word that’s often used, but perhaps sometimes without much thought: love. Set your timer and take five minutes to explore. What does this word mean to you? What emotions are evoked when you hear it? How do you use it in your life? How are memories or experiences linked to it?
Tell me, what is love to you?
ashley’s piece:
Can I hold it, taste it, touch it?
Can I save it for tomorrow?
Give more, get more.
Multiply some
spread it out by maybe thousands.
Where, I’m wondering,
where does it
reside inside the body?
In the heart,
the bloody mass,
the squirming muscle deep inside me?
If you say it,
will it grow,
can I hold it in my hand now?