Writing by Kuba Olszak. Artwork by James Wake.
Perhaps I can only love in a Cartesian way.
I can either love the soul and the soul that bestowed you upon me, or the physicality of muscles constricting and the ticks you have when you’re falling asleep –
But can I love like a human?
Perhaps I can love like a priest.
I salvage your soul, you tell me your sins so we can unite in an act of forgiveness,
or I can love like a nurse;
Stroke your chest, call you darling you tell me your aches and I give you a pill to kill your maladies –
But can I love like a man?
And I can either love like a mother.
Chop up vegetables to turn into stew, my motherly sorrow over your soul brings you comfort,
or I can love like a father;
We sit and eat together in silence, I watch you outgrow me slowly, you call and I give you my money -
But can I love like a son?