Care, uncoupled

The words of Gwendolyn Brooks echo in my mind:

“We are each other's harvest;

we are each other's business;

we are each other's magnitude and bond.”

Can there be a world in which care 

Is not locked behind a wall of romance? 

Can self-care and self-love save us

When we’re lacking in #squadcare and community? 

What if we could recognize each other’s humanity 

Without having to pay the price of romance?

What if long-term care, support, and intimacy

    Was not reserved only for romance?

I dream of an a-romantic world

    Of mutual aid and shared care

I dream of radical kindness and intimacy

    Uncoupled from our desirability. 

In a web of connectedness and bonds, 

We can build a community of support,

In which ‘singleness’ or lovelessness 

Is not a sentence for isolation.

I too need care, I too get tired, I too get old

Can my humanity be recognized?