Soulmate

A poem exploring the kind of love I longed for—not perfect, but alive.

This piece reflects on partnership as a practice of mutual growth rather than completion: people choosing, again and again, to meet one another with presence, tenderness, honesty, and devotion.

Looking back, I also see places where this vision still carried an assumption that fulfillment might arrive through another person in ways only I can cultivate within myself.

Even so, I still recognize something beautiful in what this poem was reaching toward: not escape from difficulty, but connection made sacred through ordinary life and through the willingness to remain present in imperfection.

Looking back, I smile a little at how serious and earnest this poem feels.

And at the same time, I still find something beautiful in that earnestness.

What stands out to me now is that this poem contains both wisdom and longing.

There is already a rejection of perfection here. There is already an understanding that love is built in ordinary moments and mutual growth rather than fantasy.

But I also notice places where I was still hoping another person might complete something in me that only I could learn to cultivate myself.

And I notice the language of “the one.”

At the time, that felt true and meaningful to me. Since then I've come to understand myself as polyamorous and my understanding of love has expanded. I no longer experience intimacy, devotion, or soul connection as something that must ultimately converge into a single person.

What remains unchanged is the deeper desire beneath all of that.

To love and be loved in ways that invite each person to become more fully themselves.

To witness and be witnessed.

To share in the sacred ordinary.

That part still feels true.