Inside

I’m in a living room inside
I am in a city with no name
I am in the middle of chaos
I am in the center of a chase

I could be anywhere
But the noises make it quite clear
In this mission kinda rare
I feel I could disappear

Such happiness inside
Such pleasure in easy routine
Terror is out ventured disguised
Beauty fuels the constant smile here

I hear noises everywhere
I hear lives happening nearby
I live and breathe this dream aware
This was always supposed to be mine.

2023

2023 was all about me.

I looked back at my life
my people and my kind
saw plenty of naked truths
and let go of so many of yous

I traveled here and there
ate, ventured, loved and shared
soaked up on bits of the world
became addicted to every type of growth

I lifted weights like no other
real ones and those of deep bother
got to know close the once stranger barbell
felt vividly its power to break through my shells

and as I live through this unicorn of a journey
conscious, grounded, abundant and loving
I ready to start a new whole other chapter
I prep my heart to what’s yet to come in laughter

I move on grateful for every moment alike
I shout thank you, thank you, thank you.
Let’s do this one more time. ♥️

The gaze

And so here we are
I’ll repeat what I once said

that I’ve been both
the hunter and the prey
of all survived
of all a little bit have gazed

at each time
got that bar a little higher raised
cos I knew ‘twas mine
whatever I chose to chase

and when now they say
that I take too much space
the once crawl in
now shines from here to space

so hear me out, come gather around
we’ve got it done, we’ve got ‘em sparks
tag
it’s now my turn to be the shark.

Skin

and those who now see
her proud in her skin
so little believe
the story within
how deep she dug in
how much she be healing

but now all is past
time changed for her best
her strength passed the test
without need to contest
she now truly smiles
finally, enfim, at last!

Bleh en Wai

step aside
with your black and white
praising division
only taking sides
bring on the colours
honour your sorrows
reveal the truth
shaped in you
cos higher is the strength
to live transparent
in fall and in rise
keeping reality
as the only disguise.

Thirty-Three

I was walking through a park in the middle of the city and I saw someone who looked familiar.
“Could it be him?!”, I thought.
But then my brain connected the dots: that person wouldn’t be here. He’s afraid of flying!
Haha.
Here.
But wait!
“Where is ‘here’?”
I wondered confused for a split second, until I looked at my left and saw the castle of Edinburgh just sitting there on top of a mountain and then I remembered. It’s the end of September, and I’m in Scotland for the weekend. My mind has been everywhere and so has my body lately, and I felt positively lost for a moment. Travelling through time zones, swapping bikinis for scarves within a day, going from street food breakfasts to potato based dinners. Life has been eventful – and isn’t exactly that I’ve always asked for?
Yes. Yes, it is!

It was a New Year’s resolution I confess I didn’t know I would be able to keep up with, and though a mild concern for my finances next year somewhat ping on my mind from time to time, I am committed to living today and carrying on with the feels. The tides have been high and low, and on both I have swam, strengthened, survived.

At each take off and each arrival, a new feeling, a new variable gets looked at, checked out, revised, reshaped. Life, work, friends, family, status, house. All the elements that makes one a fully functioning full grown adult in present day life is looked at in a near desperate attempt to understand if I am actually doing okay. It is anxious, of course, but after so many years of foul modus operanti, it is how healthy move forward looks like. And I wouldn’t have it any other way, I admit.

House?
Under revision
Family?
Closer, but under revision
Inner circle?
Under revision
Work?
Under development
Status?
Happily single by choice.
I know the quality of my love, and without the above at least seemingly sorted, I can’t open the doors to anyone. I’m close though, and that’s exciting.

My year has been nothing if a whole renovation project and I am beyond grateful for the possibilities I’ve created for myself to make everything happen, for each choice made towards keeping it going, and for every person I met along the way. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and though I have no idea of what lies ahead, I know one thing is absolutely certain: my ground is firm, my mind is strong, and I am ready.

And as the winds of change blow stronger, I just ask the universe to please please let me keep and sharpen the best parts of me. The spark in my eyes, the kindness in my heart, an open mind. And I beg life to be kind enough to give me time!
I rejoice in finding peace and balance in the silence, and I know how incredible days look like. I am committed to settling down, and for nothing short than this exciting, life giving thing I am lucky to call my life!

Grateful.

Steps

one week, seven sunrise walks.

never have I thought how much these be meaning
never have I fathomed how deep they’d be pealing
never have I realised how transformative those steps
through my dirt roads, through crops of pep

morning sounds blended with fresh smell
it feels like home but only to my shell
I’ve thought and felt and talked and cried
set total free my sweet vulnerable side

so now that some glasses have properly shattered
and I see clearer across those patterns
I feel so deeply, can’t quite dwell
after all this time, is it perhaps
the time for real farewell?

No beginner

Oh, little did she know
of the ice and the cold
in the truths she’d unfold
beyond the piles of snow

and how coats and mittens
would never really skimmer
the true layers of her inners

cos she knew, at least
that she’d started with a blast
but even then

she was certainly no beginner.

Little prayer

never you mind the light of day
just hear me out when I here say
I’ve been both the hunter and the prey
sailed trouble waters and rested at bay

and there is nothing I’d ever hide
either if it’s for or against the tide
cos my game is all about the ride

so I ask please, please universe
when my heart gets restlessly averse
just play that tape and then rehearse

and please be kind
just kind enough to let me rewind.

Thirty-two

I have taken some time to rest.

Amidst so many troublesome times, an endless stream of upside-down feelings, and crowded surroundings, I felt the need to stop and take a good look inside. I figured that that mantra we’d been telling our friends for such a long time was right, it was my turn to take a step back to be able to take a few others forward. And boy, how did it pay off.

The episodes of the last (last) year carved a bigger sense of scare inside of us. Despite all the events of the past three decades, this one was different: we’d experienced something entirely new in the sphere of fuckedupness that we’ve known and that required a different outlook at things. Especially to me, away from her and her pain, individually experiencing this multitude of things that I have always vowed to protect her from. Especially to me, who had for a moment believed to never again let her be hurt that much again or have to endure more hardships than the old life had already put her through. Me. Her protector, her keeper.

The last time she fell in love, we held hands and agreed to make it work, but promising that we’d always look at things differently, with more head instead of heart. We had set our boundaries, we’d believed in the promises, and we’d given things time. Yes, by now we all know how much she loves to live in her own timeline and how much that means that her right now translates into forever. Her heart is so committed and so true that her trust has never been entirely shaken from the world. Mine, however, is quite gone, and perhaps this is one of the things that lets us walk together for such a long time. Back at that time, I figured we were good, and I let her heart speak and listen to the words we were told, the offers of all the things we’d always wanted. After wall, what else did we have to work with but their words?

And then, time became still and then rushy again.

So many events, so many physical and emotional constraints, so much literal pain. While I tried to figure out what to do, she grieved a loss she had never thought to have to even have. Our lack of synchrony became a turmoil that led to an avalanche of even more loss and pain. Our lack misalignment took us places I thought to be good for her, but that eventually became just another horror house to live in. Same as the one we’d grown up in and fought so hard to leave. We were in the middle of chaos, and chaos had become the norm. And hell be open, that was not what I wanted for her.
When the last straw hit, I gathered the remaining strength and words of wisdom to be able to tell our friends. One after the other, and sometimes together, they came in our aid: to support, to console, to help me lift a limb from the ground. They all helped carry the weight of the heart, the mind and the life that had just ended. They were the ones who helped us dry the tears we could no longer stop from coming, and that I could no longer dry alone with her. They were a support system I never thought we could have.

Now, if you’ve known her long enough, I bet you’ve seen the sense of resilience and action taking on this gal. She was shaken, hell yes, but her sense of safety and moving forward was larger than anything else. I’d thought it’s take longer, but when she let me talk again, she told me of how much she needed to get out, to have a certain kind of space to figure things out. So, I made us a plan, bought us a plane ticket, and let all the stages of grievance come together. It was time.

Five weeks were all it took for her to find it all out again. I am still amazed by the strength is manages to gather, and by the power she harnesses to get herself going. I’ve seen her going through so much and having witnessed all sides of her heart, it is incredible to see how much goodness and trust will always prevail. The times will always change, and the people will always come and go, but she knows what she wants, and damn, her heart is strong!
During the week of the early morning walks, we made sure to rekindle, to find ourselves and our balance again. Those mornings were essential to acknowledging that the last year has never belonged with us or with who we are, and that it does not deserve our love, attention, or time anymore. She has even told me that this is the last we tell of it, because it simply does not deserve to fill up any bit of our time anymore, and girl, that did blow me away a bit. The last year was a year lived in a sort of a limbo, and though the most important things that have happened were much more about herself than about the other, she holds only one thing dear: she will never get over the fact that life was created and lost inside of her, and that bit will always live within her. In spite of the time. In spite of him. In spite of the pain.

Now, over nine months have passed since we’ve walked away, and six since we’ve come to hold hands again. Our heart is strong, our mind is set straight, and our future is a picture frame waiting to be filled, but without the anxiety or the rush to it. She still knows what she wants and she’s out to get it. Fearless, mindful, as a force of nature.
And as I gather our combined strength and realign our minds, I watch as her heart opens again to feel and let it be. We can’t control the future, but I know I am not letting her go.

Our girl is finally back!