Dear future self
By JP Howard
If I should ever forget you,
this is my love note to you
You were loved
You were somebody’s lover
You were loving
You held parts of all the women you loved,
somewhere deep in your generous heart
You were heartbroken
You were a heartbreaker too, girl
Sometimes you were heartache
Your heart never grew heavy though,
I remember that about you
You were silly
You were giggles
You were somebody’s Mama
You always wanted to be a Mama
Mama was the greatest title you ever had
You were jealous as fuck
You were selfish
You were sad
You held other folks’ sadness,
especially Mama’s sadness
You buried that deep in our heart
You were swag girl
Leo charm and confidence
Couldn’t nobody crack you up
as much as yourself
You were cute and you were vain
You wore lipstick under your mask
during a pandemic
because you were cute and you were vain
You loved your family
Your lover loved you for decades
Sometimes you would ask yourself,
How I get so lucky, girl?
You loved people
You were at home on a stage in front of a mic,
sitting with community in a circle,
or talking one on one with a friend
for hours on end in a coffee shop
You were a poet
You are a poet
This is your love poem to yourself, Juliet
