Such an incredible poem from Maia! I found myself suddenly thinking of all the ways that themes of love show up in my work and it definitely always has a way to find itself in there :)
One line that has me pondering is: "So maybe the question is:
(because love is just question question question and the answer could be everything):
does it matter?" This feels so powerful. Because love is everything, does that also make it rather mundane? Love really is just question question question!! Thank you for this poem, Maia.
Thank YOU for your response! I’m so glad you found things in this that resonated for you (I mean, seriously, I wind up writing about some sort of love SO OFTEN). And yes, does it matter if love is just some THING? I don’t know! But I love being able to engage in the discussion!
Yes to what both of you are saying! There's that quote that now I need to find or it will annoy me... Okay I can't quickly find the one I'm thinking of so I'm giving up, but this is close:
“Love says: I’ve seen the ugly parts of you, and I’m staying.”
I’m so sorry and also so flattered. Yes, these lines are definitely very real for me. There are so few people I feel safe enough with to be angry, and that’s because they’re the ones I trust to stick around. And I think that’s true for so many of us.
That is definitely true. My word is cherish. There are a few people I cherish (in my published collection I just dedicated it to the people I cherish and said "you know who you are" or something).
And thank you. That is incredibly kind of you to say.
When the initial pitch came in for this, I really had no idea what to expect. After all, a poem written specifically for SmallStack--for the community and the feeling we have here--felt almost like too big a gift to accept. I am so glad I said yes!
Jul 10Liked by Robin Taylor (he/him), elle kennedy fell, Rose G.
I hate to pick out this line—but it was the most meaningful to me:
“Love means connection and understanding.”
I know I’m here to connect—the conduit is the poetry/the writing.
I can jazz on all the brilliant lines you offer in this piece, but your quote above is a sober slap in the face like Cher does in the movie Moonstruck.
I'm really honored by that-- and feel the same as you. I connect through my writing. I love that it really meant something to you, and thank you so much for the kind words!
Jul 11Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
I am fortunate to have this with my husband but also with several friends too. The description is a perfect way to encapsulate a love—a deep connection—with someone.
I feel exactly the same-- deeply fortunate. When literally everything else is shit, I remind myself that I have real, deep love-- whatever the hell that is (and having just learned about the existence of quantum entanglement and then NEEDING to learn more and THEN writing a poem on how my relationship with my best friend might actually finally be explained with physics which is fucking incredible and sorry I do get distracted-- but anyway, that I am still lucky, because having that deep connection as you put it with someone is kind of so amazing that it's bigger than nearly all the other shit.
Maia, I share this not to detract from your poem, but hopefully to add to it. Reading your poem first thing in the morning yesterday softened my heart, and then reading Nur's article sealed the deal. I wrote about love, in response to your brilliantly insightful reflections on meaning of it. I can only imagine how many more people were touched by what you wrote. Thank you for being you, and for sharing your gift with all of us in the SmallStack community! 💗https://readtheinstructions.substack.com/p/boiled-eggs-are-a-bitch-a-love-story
I have literally no idea how that would in any way detract. I LOVE hearing that something I wrote inspired you to want to right as well! Thank you so much for your kind words, they really mean a lot!
Thank you so much for that thought! Because there are so many ways we experience love, and while I was writing I just kept thinking, wow, so these are things that are occurring to me, and I wonder what other things people will be shocked I didn’t include because something else would be the first thing they thought of.
I think it is so cool how we all gravitate towards different specific passages within a single poem. Seeing them all in comments here shows in such a tangible way how good writing can have an 'equal' impact across many people, yet each person has been impacted in very different ways 💖
I completely agree! The reacting to different parts thing, it's kind of like how it's so often surprising which pieces you write your audience grabs onto, and it can be surprising! The rest, I'm just super flattered by!
This is an incredible piece of art. You know I love your writing, but some of the lines in this really had me thinking "damn! I wish I wrote that!" It's a joyous and heartbreaking waltz through the many, many questions of love, there are so many faces pulled into your writing to pose the questions in such blunt & brutal ways and then the only way we can answer is out of a tenderness. It's that churning of the stomach when you recognise some of these images mirrored in your own life. You cross the road to avoid those. And here you are, slapping us round the face with them, forcing us to confront our selves in love. How dare you?! Amazing, spectacular, and fucking villainous. More of these please! I want a Roland Barthes' A Lover's Discourse response poem by you.
Ugh you say legit the kindest things, thank you so much! I'm honestly touched that you enjoyed this so much! And slapped people in the face with feelings I fricking love doing that!
Also I will do my best on a response poem so long as you do one, too
Such an incredible poem from Maia! I found myself suddenly thinking of all the ways that themes of love show up in my work and it definitely always has a way to find itself in there :)
One line that has me pondering is: "So maybe the question is:
(because love is just question question question and the answer could be everything):
does it matter?" This feels so powerful. Because love is everything, does that also make it rather mundane? Love really is just question question question!! Thank you for this poem, Maia.
Thank YOU for your response! I’m so glad you found things in this that resonated for you (I mean, seriously, I wind up writing about some sort of love SO OFTEN). And yes, does it matter if love is just some THING? I don’t know! But I love being able to engage in the discussion!
This is way too many tears for 8 am... This poem touches me in so many ways, no matter how many times I re-read it.
These few lines are such simple truths, but these lines can change an entire life:
"Love is finally feeling safe enough with someone else that you can get angry
and yell
and hate
because you know they won’t leave you."
This line keeps coming back to me too... you can't talk about love without mentioning hate. There is something so deep and powerful about that.
Yeah. It makes me think of holding out my hands full of yuckiness... saying, 'here you go. Here are the worst parts of me.' And love says... 'yes.'
Yes to what both of you are saying! There's that quote that now I need to find or it will annoy me... Okay I can't quickly find the one I'm thinking of so I'm giving up, but this is close:
“Love says: I’ve seen the ugly parts of you, and I’m staying.”
― Matt Chandler
Maia... wow, precisely. 💗 Great quote.
I’m so sorry and also so flattered. Yes, these lines are definitely very real for me. There are so few people I feel safe enough with to be angry, and that’s because they’re the ones I trust to stick around. And I think that’s true for so many of us.
I suppose the silver lining is that we hold those precious few so dearly.
Thanks again for this beautiful poem Maia. It truly is a gift to us here. 💛
That is definitely true. My word is cherish. There are a few people I cherish (in my published collection I just dedicated it to the people I cherish and said "you know who you are" or something).
And thank you. That is incredibly kind of you to say.
This piece was beautiful. I loved it so much. 🤩🫶🏻
Thank you, sincerely!!
When the initial pitch came in for this, I really had no idea what to expect. After all, a poem written specifically for SmallStack--for the community and the feeling we have here--felt almost like too big a gift to accept. I am so glad I said yes!
It is such a relatable piece as both a writer and as a human being! So thankful for this gift to our community. :)
I love that it feels relatable! Because I assumed it would be but could have been wrong!
And honestly thank you for those kind words.
I was so happy to do it!!
This line hit me right in the feels: "love is just question question question and the answer could be everything."
Possibly the best description for love I've encountered yet.
I am flattered you think I'm one of the people who got closer to figuring it out!
Stunning Maia!! Seriously so damn good.
Thank you so much!!!
I hate to pick out this line—but it was the most meaningful to me:
“Love means connection and understanding.”
I know I’m here to connect—the conduit is the poetry/the writing.
I can jazz on all the brilliant lines you offer in this piece, but your quote above is a sober slap in the face like Cher does in the movie Moonstruck.
I’m dumbfounded and now I gotta snap outta it.
I'm really honored by that-- and feel the same as you. I connect through my writing. I love that it really meant something to you, and thank you so much for the kind words!
This was a beautiful read. It felt more like a ride. Surfing a wave of questions and answers on Love.
Thank you so much for sharing your voice with us, Maia. And thanks to smallstack for elevating voices we wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise. 🙏
I love that way of experiencing it! Thank you so much, I’m so happy you liked the journey!
Great work such a wonderful poem . I needed that right now . hugs to you Maia
I’m so glad this was the right moment for you to read it! Hugs to you as well!
“the intimacy of knowing someone so well, so deeply,
that you can say just one word
and suddenly you’re both laughing,
hysterically,
until your stomachs ache and you choke for air.”
~This. 💞
I love that something so joyful resonated with you!
I am fortunate to have this with my husband but also with several friends too. The description is a perfect way to encapsulate a love—a deep connection—with someone.
I feel exactly the same-- deeply fortunate. When literally everything else is shit, I remind myself that I have real, deep love-- whatever the hell that is (and having just learned about the existence of quantum entanglement and then NEEDING to learn more and THEN writing a poem on how my relationship with my best friend might actually finally be explained with physics which is fucking incredible and sorry I do get distracted-- but anyway, that I am still lucky, because having that deep connection as you put it with someone is kind of so amazing that it's bigger than nearly all the other shit.
Got me inspired to work on some poetry again.
Maia, I share this not to detract from your poem, but hopefully to add to it. Reading your poem first thing in the morning yesterday softened my heart, and then reading Nur's article sealed the deal. I wrote about love, in response to your brilliantly insightful reflections on meaning of it. I can only imagine how many more people were touched by what you wrote. Thank you for being you, and for sharing your gift with all of us in the SmallStack community! 💗https://readtheinstructions.substack.com/p/boiled-eggs-are-a-bitch-a-love-story
I have literally no idea how that would in any way detract. I LOVE hearing that something I wrote inspired you to want to right as well! Thank you so much for your kind words, they really mean a lot!
Thanks for your grace, and especially for your kick-ass poem 😉 💗
You’re lovely. Thank YOU.
I love this one:
"So maybe the question is:
(because love is just question question question and the answer could be everything):
does it matter?"
It reads like all sorts of love a human can ever experience, and isn't life wonderful like that? :)
Thank you so much for that thought! Because there are so many ways we experience love, and while I was writing I just kept thinking, wow, so these are things that are occurring to me, and I wonder what other things people will be shocked I didn’t include because something else would be the first thing they thought of.
(Another question!)
Really articulate and engaging poem, Maia! I like the way you conveyed your thought and feelings on this topic.
I very much appreciate that!!
Bravo Maia! 💝 My favorite part: After all, we write the sensations,
all veins electric and heart seeking defibrillation or maybe arrest,
swallowing unconsciously,
then breath slinks out like marijuana smoke,
billowing down heavy and rankly sweet;
we write the weight of a dozen dozen maybes,
a hundred hundred more regretted nos,
a thousand thousand what-ifs and if-onlys and I-wishes:
so can we help but inquire into the inevitable disasters
and uncaring, unflinching what-the-hells?
I think it is so cool how we all gravitate towards different specific passages within a single poem. Seeing them all in comments here shows in such a tangible way how good writing can have an 'equal' impact across many people, yet each person has been impacted in very different ways 💖
I completely agree! The reacting to different parts thing, it's kind of like how it's so often surprising which pieces you write your audience grabs onto, and it can be surprising! The rest, I'm just super flattered by!
I love knowing what people connected with, it's so interesting to me! And thank you so much for your kind words, sincerely!
This is an incredible piece of art. You know I love your writing, but some of the lines in this really had me thinking "damn! I wish I wrote that!" It's a joyous and heartbreaking waltz through the many, many questions of love, there are so many faces pulled into your writing to pose the questions in such blunt & brutal ways and then the only way we can answer is out of a tenderness. It's that churning of the stomach when you recognise some of these images mirrored in your own life. You cross the road to avoid those. And here you are, slapping us round the face with them, forcing us to confront our selves in love. How dare you?! Amazing, spectacular, and fucking villainous. More of these please! I want a Roland Barthes' A Lover's Discourse response poem by you.
Ugh you say legit the kindest things, thank you so much! I'm honestly touched that you enjoyed this so much! And slapped people in the face with feelings I fricking love doing that!
Also I will do my best on a response poem so long as you do one, too