you shouldn’t have to look for love in the long grass,

you shouldn’t have to search
for it

hungrily, living

from crumb to crumb,

map faded,
edges torn

trying to remember
where you last saw it,

when you were last allowed
to sit next to it

for a little while,
until.

sometimes it is what it is

and
not

what you want it to be.

you have to open your eyes

when you kiss, and
keep them unclosed
long after.

love,
if it is real

is a tree that spreads,
shields and

shelters.

you never have to search for it.

it is always there
right before your eyes, and

every time you fall to your knees

in the moss
of the green softness that
covers the roots of the thing

that holds you,

you
will
know
this

and not forget.

— love will not make you search for it.

© Liezel Graham 2020.

Image by Annie Spratt.

this is for you,

if you need reminding that love, does not leave you hungry, does not make you search for it in the long grass of your life.

liezel