What Remains: Cynthia
/
The tree doesn’t know why I pour coffee at its base. Its branches lean over my mother’s grave. Coffee was her Sunday morning drink. After her Saturday evening wine.
“Don’t break my heart, boy.”
Read More
What Remains: In Time
/
Time doesn’t erase, it layers. We measure anniversaries of both presence and absence, holding space for both. What remains in time is the truth that grief and love never leave, they simply take new shapes.
Read MoreLove, In a Genuine Eloquence
/
1 Corinthians 13. This chapter captures love with such genuine eloquence that even a non-believer might pause. Drawn in by the beauty of the language alone…
Read MoreJuly Brings the Women
/
This gift of extra days stretched wide and warm, full of stillness, movement, and the women who shape my world. The kind of company that asks for nothing but your presence. I started Friday by honoring my commitment to the YMCA, a place that's become more than work since I began there in November, but a community of familiar faces and shared purpose. My 10 AM finish gave me the perfect window for the three-hour journey to Snellville and my waiting family. They’re vegetarians and lovers of good food—we’ve always shared that language. They prepared a beautiful meal, and we broke bread with gratitude and laughter.
Read MoreFew Antipathies: If I Loved You This Summer
/
I’m not in love. But if I were?
It wouldn’t be the type with edge or urgency. No games, no schedule, no emotional calisthenics. Just a long exhale kind of love. One where nobody’s trying too hard, and everything lands just right…
Read MoreLet Me Know You Got Home Safe
/
It’s just something we say, right?
We say it after dinners with friends, after long phone calls that stretch into the night, after first dates that leave us somewhere between hopeful and hesitant.
“Let me know you got home safe”
Read MoreConversations About A Four Letter Word
/
I don’t enjoy conversations about love. “It’s not because it’s an emotion… an abstraction that is hard to quantify and define.” It’s not because I tend to have more of a logical locus of control than an emotional one. It's because social media has profoundly influenced how men and women perceive and engage with each other, shifting the narrative from emotional connection to transactional expectations. Instead of love as mutual understanding and growth, we now often see a narrow focus on what men can materially provide and what women refuse to compromise on—
Read MoreHangnail
/
“Peeling away, yet I’m compelled to stay, cherishing you from a place between drawing blood & the gentlest touch.” - Hangnail
Hanging on by a thread…
I've been active on Threads and I'm enjoying it so far. However, I haven't fully figured out how the algorithm works. It shows me a lot of content from local users in Charlotte, with many threads about food, traffic, dating, fitness, and life in Uptown.
Read MoreIntimacy Without Romance: A Complex Desire
/
What Else Are Women For?
“The world still wants to ask that a woman primarily be pretty and if she is not, the mob pouts and asks querulously, 'What else are women for?”
― W.E.B. Du Bois
Read MoreHappiness Is A New Idea
/
In November 2020, I wrote a post titled “Love, Undeserving Of” It was a moment of reflection, prompted by someone telling me they didn’t feel good enough for me. I was confused, not because I thought I was above anyone, but because I’ve always held a deep sense of my own worthiness, my capability, and my right to be loved. As always, I went somewhere and 'sat down' to search for clarity and understanding regarding the root of this feeling, not just in others, but within myself.
Read MoreQuaestiones Quae Responsa Necessaria
/
"A good relationship is more than just chemistry - it also has a lot to do with HISTORY, ANATOMY, PHYSICS and ACCOUNTING"
Read MoreLove Impressions
/
I like things in their place, I'm not a neat freak per se but I do like things neat, organized, and in good order – Fastidious.
The word fastidious traces to the Latin noun fastidium, meaning "aversion" or "disgust." Fastidium itself is probably a combination of the Latin words fastus, meaning "arrogance," and taedium, meaning "irksomeness" or "disgust." Shout out to my HS Latin teacher Shirley Wingo.
Read MoreA Short Story Starring Me and You, Yo’ Mama and Yo’ Cousin Too
/
A Tale of Lost Love and Lessons Learned
They say that a four-letter word beginning with L and ending in E is a journey of twists, turns, joy, and heartbreak. For some of us, there is someone from our past who has left an indelible placeholder on our heart. The Wo/Man who slipped through our fingers and away from our lovesick soul, leaving behind cherished memories and valuable life lessons…
Read MoreForty Years To Life - AS Esq.
/
“One must possess oneself, and be alone in possession of oneself.”
We can’t take care of others of we don’t take care of ourselves; in a relationship, a family or a friendship — A supreme challenge of life is reconciling the longing to fulfill ourselves in union, in partnership, and in love. Writing helps me reconcile that longing. I open my space to others to express themselves, to carve out a little time to say their ‘peace’
AS Esq.,
4-0, UM OK?
Last time I submitted a piece; I was counting down to 39! Oh how my days have changed! …
Read MoreNothing Comes From Nothing
/
In the flow of conversation with a good friend, I assertively talked about my awareness and understanding of the dynamics of aging. In context, the discussion was specific to me as a single unknown black male. The subtext, was specific to me being alone (not lonely) as I age.
Read MoreRandom Observation #120,058
/
Random Observation #120,058
July 2nd - July 8th, The Week of Rest and Introspection
I took the week off from work without plans and tried to force myself to get up, get out and get something when all I needed was rest and introspection…
Read MoreThe Cure by Love
/
I’m having déjà vu and amnesia at the same time— I think I’ve written this before. Maybe it was a conversation with one of the two of you who read my blog?
Of Attractiveness
The other night I celebrated with a friend on her birthday, there were three of us— It was small and intimate. A week prior I got F.R.E.S.H. with a full haircut to celebrate another friend on her birthday. Due to timing and a need to ‘stay ready,’ I got a ‘fresh up (hair and beard line up) for the weeks’ end activities.
Read MoreIndependently Dependent - O. B. TramueL
/
Recently I wrote about meeting people where they are.
MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE
Young, Middle Age, and Older Adults
Over the past ten years, I have connected with truly remarkable people. Our lives go better connecting with those who help us evolve into our higher selves. Life has taught me to see the best in people, and it’s driven me mental when people see the worst in me. Life should say show them the best in themselves because they forget that. Self-improvement is a two-way street.
Read MoreInsane In the Membrane
/
What Do You Do To Protect Yourself From Pain?
I protect myself with a complicated set of traps & defense mechanisms.
I received a lot of private feedback on this sentence from my post,
"I could be a great boyfriend, partner, or husband except… I do NOT want to do the work."
Mostly you need to heal, you're hurt, and you need time feedback.
Read MoreLife Changes - Nikks
/
“Love is the one game you lose by refusing to play.”
I heard that quote a very long time ago, I think on Ally McBeal… is my age showing? I think that we can replace the word “love” with the word “life.” I’ve realized if you don’t live in the dash, you lose.
It’s a simple rule, 19xx - 20xx, the dash between birth and expiration.
That dash is your life.
Read More