Member Poem

It seems funny to have a thing
A song, a place, a movie
Associated with a person
Yes, this is our song
We claim it
No, it cannot be your song
Because it is our song
We hold on to this
Sentimental, hallowed
Like it means something
Now that I think about it
It seems funny to have a person
It pleases me
The way that people now refer to spouses
As partners
This is what they’ve always been
We’re only just now realizing it
It is amusing to think
That I chose this person
I choose to exclusively belong to this person
To share my belongings with them
As well as my secrets
We are friends
We are lovers
We are in love with our friendship
I choose this person to be the other half of me
I choose to no longer have just my name in a sentence
Our names are always mashed together
In other people’s mouths
Youme
Meyou
Like a contraction of two words
We become one word
This is what having a partner means
I like the term partner
Because it doesn’t have to mean husband or wife
At its basis, it means friend
It means someone you can rely on
Someone you trust
To hold you up
Catch you when you fall
You are a pair
Not like shoes or socks,
Where one could get lost
Like pants
Attached at the crotch
A partner
Someone to fight
Alongside you
In battle
Win or lose
Even when
You disagree
You fight
You lay blame
You resent
This is your person
This is your partner
This is who you’ve chosen
Voluntarily
To be the name contracted with yours
This is who you’ve chosen
To work with
Yes, work
Is in the very definition
Of partner
Being part of a contraction
Is work
Sometimes it’s hard
Sometimes it’s enjoyable
And you will only get out of it what you put in
It is funny to think
That there is a person
Who we attach ourselves to
On the basis of physical attributes:
Your eyes are just the right shade of blue-green
Your hand fits nicely with mine
On the basis of interests:
You like pasta?
Holy hell, me too!
On the basis of the animal part of ourselves that we deem “sex drive”:
You make my knees weak
Like my legs can’t help but open to you
On the basis of anything
We attach ourselves to people
Why?
I believe
Greek mythology
Explains it best:
When the gods created man,
He was made with
Four arms,
Four legs,
And two heads
It was decided
That man was too powerful,
Too dangerous in this form
So the gods split him in half
Thus, man wanders the earth
In a constant search for the other half of his soul