POETRY Reading: Ode to the Steady Beat, by Gabrielle Munslow

Voice Over by Val Cole

—–
POEM:

I loved the way you did that almost-smile —
One eyebrow cocked in pretend surprise, or scorn.
You didn’t just have come-to-bed eyes —
you had come-devour-me eyes.
Yet we could not.
Shackled by respect for responsibility,
the affair was just in my head —
Was it in yours too?
I saw the way your eyes traced
the contours of my body,
and lingered in places.

You took up space.
Inhabited it fully.
You were the steady beat of my heart —
a heart-shaped drum.
Your rhythm grounded me,
like djembe hands in ceremony,
like calabash and breath
in ancestral echoes.

I loved your fierce loyalty,
your kindness and your courage,
your honour and your humour —
And yes, your sin too.
I saw I tempted you.
You were strong in your faith,
your moral compass true north.
I was magnetic south,
pulling the tide toward longing,
but we held fast.

You cooked with joy,
you walked like an elder of your own tribe —
rooted and present.
You laughed like home.
You listened like a griot
guarding stories in the bones of your soul.

We danced in silence,
burned in restraint,
and never kissed —
but oh, how my spirit did.

Now when I hear the beat,
steady and soft —
like quiet drums in a village far away —
I know you are still here,
keeping time.