Yesterday, I heard a clip of an interview from the actress Nicole Ari Parker. For those of you who may not know, she is married to actor Boris Kodjoe. The couple has been married for 15 years. Fast forward back to this week, when Nicole stated how she misses the excitement of the single life. She even went as far as entertaining outside flirting because it’s a “fresh and new feeling”. Oh, and apparently Boris was in the room. Somebody’s quarantine time probably isn’t going to well.

So, what does this have to do with anything? If you’ve followed my blog for a long period of time, you know I tend to stray away from speaking on relationships. My belief is relationships are all different (to some extent) and simply cannot be summed up in one blog. Nonetheless, many couples today deal with the feeling of losing the fire in their relationship. I commend Nicole for at least being honest about her feelings. Maybe she just needed some coaching on the approach….but that’s just me.

Staying in a relationship, job situation, friendship or any binding commitment can be difficult once one or both parties have shifted their focus (either voluntarily or involuntarily). I always say that the worst loneliness is feeling alone even when there are other people around that ideally should combat those feelings. That type of loneliness inspired one of my new poems, “Lonely Two” (snippet below), from the Hindsight 20/20 re-release. If you don’t have your copy, check it out here. It’s always better to face our demons now, rather than regretting those things we should have said in hindsight.

I used the napkin in my lap to/ Wipe off the residue of our/ Last savory crumbs/
You placed yours in your lap/ Lipstick left on the rim of the glass/ As evidence/ That we were there physically/ Yet mentally in outer space/ Don’t find yourself making/ These types of reservations/ Because the worst kind of loneliness/ Is to be tethered to withered love/ “Lonely Two” from Hindsight 20/20