(Poem) How to Carry Softness

Another exclusive poem, written for my upcoming chapbook.

How to Carry Softness

i.

i can feel you

pressed softly

against my neck:

even the thought of you

remembered white

on my skin.

ii.

i speak it,

and your name

is delicate

and alive, here

in the dying curve

of my tongue.

iii.

i have never known

how to make a home

of this body,

but it carries you so easily

that perhaps it is

yours.

—-

I’ve been thinking a lot, recently, about what it is to love someone. About how nobody teaches you how to fall in love, or how to cope when it leaves.

But the truth is, there is more than one way to love someone, and often, you don’t realise that until someone shows you what it is to really be vulnerable. What it is to carry their name in your chest in a way that is light, when you are only used to carrying what is heavy.

I think this poem is about finding someone new, and realising that love doesn’t always have to be a weight to carry. That even when you’re terrified, it is possible for someone to hold you without fearing the edges of who you are.

I have so much new work to share with you all, and I’m excited by what the coming year may hold. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stop writing about the darkness, but perhaps there is yet more to see of the light.

Yours,

Blake

—-

You can now pre-order Murmuration from retailers worldwide, including Barnes and Noble, Amazon (US), Amazon (UK) and Waterstones. You can view a full list of retailers here, along with instructions on how to get my new pre-order bonus TEN for free. You can also still grab all three of my existing books at blakeauden.com.