for Sasha

A Feminist Love Poem

Someone once told me falling in love was like

Falling asleep. But with respect,

That's bullshit. Falling in love is

What I felt the first time I danced

And the hundredth time. Falling in love is

Red nails and pink lips and lacing 

Up my shoes.

Someone once told me falling in love was like

Jumping off a cliff and that's also bullshit.

Again, with respect.

Falling in love is finding the perfect skirt in a thrift shop

And wearing it to a contra dance, wearing it to brunch, 

Wearing it to dinner, wearing it to watch RBG on TV.

Love is watching RBG on TV in a nice skirt. 

Someone once told me falling in love is like a hunch

And then a series of promises

And then a lot of work. 

Or a rose, or a smoking gun or a ballet slipper

Or a shooting star. 

Love is the sun shining on daffodils and daffodils

Pushing their roots into the soft earth.