A river can nourish
an entire landscape
without selecting
a favorite tree.

Perhaps I spent years
standing beside
a reservoir
waiting for permission
to drink.

Believing abundance
required a witness.

Believing devotion
required exclusivity.

Now I suspect
the heart functions
more like a muscle
than a lock.

The more it is used,
the more capable
it becomes.

Which does not eliminate
loneliness.

Or longing.

Or the desire.

To find someone
whose laugh
lands in my core.

It simply means
I have stopped postponing
my affection.

Stopped treating love
like a resource
that must be carefully saved
for the correct person.

The world remains
full of people
in need of kindness.

Animals.

Trees.

Friends.

Neighbors.

Entire galaxies
of consciousness
moving through their brief
and bewildering existence.

I have decided
to love them all.