i want to learn
the language of love,
a language that ties us
to the heavens above,

a language that requires
no words nor phrases,
a language that is trapped
in our hearts and our embraces,

a language that I know not
until I find true love,
a language that might rot
if not spoken often enough,

but I wait not for a man
to teach me the language of the earth,
for once a wise woman told me
to look at myself first.

────── to the woman who taught me to put myself first: i have loved, still love and will love you, dear mother—forever and always.