Zozo's

Nessa - die first Like Clytie longing for Apollo, I would follow you— in heart, in mind— like the sunflower chasing its sun. Like Psyche loving Cupid, I would love you without question, crossing the river Styx just to reach you. Perhaps Heracles’ love was blind— but for you, beloved, I would ruin myself without regret. You, the Helen to my Menelaus— I would wage a thousand wars for you, even if the Gods turned their faces away. Like Tlingi waiting for her Ngama, for you, my moonflower, I would sink into delusion and wait, and wait, until death gently calls my name. For you, my love— just for you.

Oceans and Engines The world becomes brighter as I push myself to crawl out of the abysmal circle I once willingly let myself plunder into. My eyes, once dim, now grow curious and vibrant— a smile finds my lips as I breathe in the crisp, forgiving air. The labyrinth I never willed myself to leave begins to fade behind me, its walls crumbling slowly, steadily, as I inch forward. My crimes—cleansed. My pain—quieted. My sins—released. I become light again, free and agile. My wounds remain, but they remind me I have loved with all I had. With a bruised soul and a battered body, I gave and gave, surrendering all that I wanted for myself. And I loved— oh, how I loved. I loved so fiercely that I willed myself to disappear in it. I lost my way, knowingly, for a yearning that never quite returned to me. I walked and worked for decades, hoping and hoping— until one day, I simply stopped. And then, I saw myself. Not the self I longed for others to see— but me...