Tag: beauty

The Great Divide

Published on by Tosha Michelle4 Comments

Hello, WordPress, my old friend. It’s been ages. Sorry for the long hiatus. Life and time have a way of running off together, and by the time I finally find my shoes, they’ve already disappeared around the corner. Rude. 

I’m here for a brief moment but I’ll have more random nonsense to post at a later date. Lots of good things in the works, my latest poetry collection will be arriving soon, and we also have a few interesting excursions coming up that I can’t wait to share. For today, though, I simply wanted to talk about music.

One of my current favorite artists is Noah Kahan. If you aren’t familiar, please acquaint yourself with this young man’s work .He’s what would happen if Paul Simon and Bob Dylan had a baby.. Noah’s music is human in the best way possible. He has this rare ability to make songs feel both intimate and expansive.. His writing blends folk, indie, and Americana influences with deeply personal storytelling about mental health, nostalgia, loneliness, home, and the ache of growing older. His latest work aptly titled, The Great Divide captures the space between what was and what will be. Noah writes from a place of self reflection and is painfully honest with himself and his listeners. Be warned his music is melancholy, but conversely,, also so uplifting and life affirming. Pretty sure sad girl summers were invented by him. You always get the impression he’s sitting on the back porch at dust with the weight of the world on his shoulders, writing his maladies into something lyrical and beautiful.

Here are three of my favorite songs off the album/

“You know I think about you all the time
And my deep misunderstanding of your life”

“And I clutch my cloth, and I bite my tongue
I’m an aging wolf who lost the taste for blood”
“Everybody’s asleep, let’s talk about him
Let’s talk about high school, talk about death
Talk about the long ride home from the grave”

Wave Me Crazy

Published on by Tosha Michelle6 Comments

This post is definitely not in my usual wheelhouse and a little off the beaten path, but please indulge my flight of fancy as I talk about something utterly frivolous… hair. ✨

For all my wavy-haired girls (and guys!), this one’s for you. For years I spent ages straightening my hair. Now that I’m older, I just don’t have the patience for it so about a year ago I decided to fully embrace the waves. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way:
1. Microfiber towels are game changers. They cut down on frizz and help with definition. (Old t-shirts work too!)
2. Curl-enhancing cream is a must. I scrunch in amika Curl Corps and it makes all the difference.
3. I usually air dry, but when I do use heat, I grab a diffuser attachment for my dryer.
4. Once dry, I apply a little hair oil and avoid brushing—otherwise, hello frizz.
5. To refresh waves between washes, I mist with water, add a bit of leave-in conditioner, and scrunch.

And with that, we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog programming.

Love Me

Published on by Tosha Michelle90 Comments

Love me, not just my body,
but the curvature of my being.
Take me as I am, as I’ll be.
Give me the quiet music
of your heart. Teach me
the lyrics and tune.

Love me for infinity, and not
just indefinitely. Tell me
we can work, if we work
for it as if it were our livelihood.
As if it were our art.

Love me enough to make
revisions to replenish.
Let me be the black and
blue uprooting your veins.

Love me from the inside out,
where the echos are heard everywhere.
Let me be your irreplaceable.
This body, this spirit, this future corpse.
Let me translate and soothe in a language
that’s never been anywhere but us.

Love me with substance and let our love
be a love of existence. Knowing I’m flawed,
that I’m nothing special but knowing
I’m enough for you.

Love me, like an
idea fully formed, like a love poem
filling the paper to capacity, full of hope,
written at the desk by heart light.

Love me, like yours is the hand
holding the pen.
Let the rhythm belong to you.
Love me, like I’m the
syntax of your verse,
the reason behind your rhyme.

Love me,

Tosha Michelle

Deity in Diversity

Published on by Tosha Michelle105 Comments

image

Maybe someday we will
have written about humanity
and grace so much
that the paper we scribble on
will burn down
the forest of hate
that grows in casket-closed minds,
eradicating words like
racism, hate, bigotry.

The fire cleansing away
evil and ignorance.
Strike a match with
your pen.

Let’s try at least to
direct the language toward love.
Let’s keep moving the
adjectives higher and higher.
Trust the verbs to lead us,
the pin of light, to the fire.

Maybe as the trees come undone,
leaves igniting,
branches bursting with truth,
charity and clarity will rise.
Rustling beneath skin.
Love rising, tapping deep.
Opening eyes and cleaning tongues
in the dialect of compassion.
Hope slipping into the core.
Porous and large.
Looking out in every direction
until it is inside the sky,
the rocks, the moon.
Lacing the night and hearts with promise,
the rainy season finally over.

Until then, let your pens sway
against the dark waves.
Let’s push our boats against the current.
Light the candle wick.
Kiss it with fervor.
Give flame to the wind and waves.

-Tosha Michelle

Photo, my own 

If I Could

Published on by Tosha Michelle23 Comments

If I could, I would shield you from your own sorrows. From phones that don’t ring, the 7 AM alarm clock, missing the train, fair-weather friends, the frayed ends of the welcome mat.

I would protect you from backaches and headaches, and unnecessary tirades, the losing team. Mostly, I would shelter you from false hope, people with an agenda to harm, and those wildflowers meant only to disarm.

I would encourage you to take ferries and planes, and leave the ink revised map at home,  to become a mid spring season, dandelions covered, savor the sunshine, take risk.  Breathe.

Remember the music of your soul. Listen to your heart’s sway. I would implore you to make love, make art, and to praise the song and rhythm your body prays.

-Tosha Michelle