Tribe is not optional

irreplaceable.

i keep tasting this wine

and then its pungent absence.

the medicine of living together.

not of coming together -

bound by purpose,

neatly snipped into a schedule box,

activities laid out

like a surgeon’s toolkit.

no,

i speak of pre-clock time,

letting our soft animal bodies

sleep in a pile,

brush arms doing dishes

message parents over coffee

frolick in the waterlilies

whisper joys and sorrows at night feasts in the garden.

the lush plains of our hearts need

to bump into each other,

effortless as in breath and out,

map out each others’ smells and sounds

overhear musings on death and the weather.

i speak of allowing

our deepest yearning of union

to pull us into

casual, inevitable love

with what is familiar,

known and yet unknowable.

the nakedness of these moments

we are nothing in particular,

unmasked by roles and archetypes,

just another mammal,

a heart whose music

becomes my landscape

by simple right of proximity,

without a thought

or a chance to recover.

The love of The Many

is not interchangeable

with the love of the One,

be they God, Lover or Planet.

nothing replaces

the sacrament of group love

into unshakeable belonging.

i see myself

Weave in and out of periods of

exile,

known to gypsies and others

as the harshest

of all human punishments.

i know so intimately

the pain of the stranger

who cannot find a place at the hearth.

but graver still -

i see many others

who carry that cross

unaware,

blind to what bends their spine,

saps their heart from color,

fooled by sips

of lukewarm connection

that keep them

not quite

alive.

we belong not to ourselves

but to a forest of arms,

a drum parade of thumping chests,

a stream of spirits

we may never even meet,

who go cold without our flame.

And about that...... I got something brewing for this winter. Stay tuned ✨

#community #belonging #tribe #tribeisnotoptional #loveofthemany #livingtogether