The smell of curry in the kitchen always reminds me of my roots
Like the way tea from ginger root reminds me that I’m loved
In Sunday school I learned that love is patient

I know patience waiting for plantains and mangoes to ripen
I know patience rolling sticky dough in a blanket of flour
Patience is steaming rice with coconut milk from the tin

There’s no minute rice when there’s love in the kitchen
I want to savor every bit of it
While we have the time

Love me*
The fragile girl cries
I can feel her ache
Thrashing through my ribcage
On the hardest night of winter
The frost pulses through her veins
And fabricates a home in her soul
Her hatred of hate
Destroying her alive
Her tears are jammed in my throat
Fears caught in my dreams
Love her
Love her
Please

I'll be your rainstorm
Filling your deep desert cracks
Fostering new growth