Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s Comments
My high school and college years were marked by—if not defined by—an unbroken string of unrequited crushes. My college-aged self would have likely balked at my use of the term crush because the truth was my love burned so hard for these fellas that it was inconceivable to me that those feelings weren’t at least a little bit reciprocated. But, unfortunately for my heart, these guys remained firmly in the just friends territory. It was during these years that I began to loathe desire, a feeling I saw as a matchless conman when it came to promising me everything and delivering nothing. So, with this series of poems, I try to reclaim desire from my heart’s dustbin, celebrating it as a singular and intimate moment when your body unleashes itself and gallops with want, when possibility seems limitless. Regardless if that desire is ever mirrored or met, it deserves its own respect for awakening parts of yourself you had forgotten and for blazing your weary body with all the fresh, sweet, energizing hope.
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