I used to think love is roses and sunflower petals early in the morning.
I used to think one can just love the same way you pick flowers.
I used to think love is holding hands in the mall and introducing myself to your friends.
Oh, how wrong I was.
I’ve come to realise that love is more than that.
Love transcends beyond silent stares and rose petals resembling.
It’s kissing my forehead when I had a long day.
It’s your tight hugs when you haven’t seen me in a week.
I’ve come to learn that love is needing to talk to you at 3 am when I can’t sleep.
When all I need to hear is your voice to make the pain slightly better.
I’ve come to realise that love is putting pride aside and saying you’re sorry.
Love is losing the argument instead of the person.
Love is your cold hands cupping my breasts in winter and kissing me with apologies that travel from your lips to warm my heart.
However, I don’t think that’s all the love there is
But that’s all the love I could get from you when you had stuck around.
At least I have an idea now.
Frieda Ndeutala Kaunapawa Mukufa holds a master’s degree in English and Applied Linguistics from the Namibia University of Science and Technology. Alongside her role as Assistant Publisher at Kuiseb Publishers she works part-time as an editor for several organisations, including Blog4SDGs and Jeffrou’s Language Consultancy. She also undertakes freelance editing work for corporate clients. Mukufa is an established performer and has appeared at Open Mic Namibia. She contributes to the New Era Newspaper by writing a weekly column focused on women’s issues. In 2022 she was a fellow of the Narrating Namibia, Narrating Africa Doek Emerging Writers Program.