This month we are spotlighting a poem 'Might Love Be For All Of Us' by Lauren-Nicole Mayes.
About Lauren:
I am Lauren-Nicole Mayes, Blackpool born and bred actress and writer. Upon graduating from Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, I was awarded the Tracie Bennett Most Promising Actress Award. I have since gone on to play Chantelle Wilder in ITV's soap Coronation Street, Lauren in The Other Side With Valerie of Hope Film for BFI/Creative England and most recently Gina King in Tall Story Pictures drama, The Bay ITV Series 2. In 2018, I produced and performed in the two hander of Eggs by Florence Keith Roach. After a sell out run at 53Two Manchester, the show transferred for a week's resident slot at Tristan Bates Theatre. My writing journey started after winning Jimmy Akingbola's Monologue Slam competition with TriForce Creative Network, a performance of an original three minute piece surrounding mental health in young mothers. I am currently one of the six finalists for the inaugural ScreenPlay Award for Sky studios and Box of Tricks and will be a part of their ScreenPlay writers cohort for underrepresented writers in 2021. I have finished my first draft of BABYNUN X0 and I am now looking to secure funding for a week's R&D development for the show.
Twitter - @laurennicolema Instagram - @laurennicolemayes_
The Piece
I wrote 'Might Love Be For All Of Us' because I have found love and career/my life the hardest thing to get my head around. A constant battle at times and often a sacrifice and obstacle I can not tackle head on. Often we convince ourselves , to have one, we must lose another. Splurging my thoughts onto paper allowed me to realise maybe you do get to have it all, even if it does become a juggling act that often requires compromise. Life is a balancing act but we all deserve love, in whatever form. During this current climate, it feels like we have all been reminded why love always wins. Everyone should win.
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Might Love Be For All Of Us?
No word of a lie A day never goes by Without someone asking Why are you not speaking to anyone?
Still single?
Ready to mingle? Any dates? With mates, friends with benefits Where did he take ya? What did you do? Will we be meeting him? Oh give us a clue ….. Closed off Shut down No frown Just smiling Focused Complete tunnel vision No collisions Just passion, light, determination and ambition A vision Only i could see So to add another individual to that Wouldn't be me Isn’t me Should it be? Could it be? Cos it was about me One Not two No boo,or bae, or whatever they say But hey, im happy, content, lustful for life Not dreaming about being somebody's wife But maybe life would be nice if you got to share all of the above To have another soul who feels like they fit like a glove LOVE L O V E It’s for the many but not for me Is what i would tell myself after another long morning When the many were snoring I was running Or typing Never griping Bustling my way through life ... Might there be time for a possible he Would he, or me ever be a we? ... I stopped and realised Much to my despise That maybe i’d got it all wrong It was never about conforming or settling It was more about strengthening Lengthening Learning to share And care Becoming a pair It’s funny how i’d always thought love was all about butterflies LOVE Like every single butterfly in the world was inside your stomach, trapped, encaptured in your womb. I assumed it felt like a million butterflies fluttering away, day by day until you finally exploded I also thought love was for the people who moulded and wanted to conform , the instagram norm, the individuals who hadn’t figured out what they wanted so instead of figuring it out, they found their spouse,, and everything became about love and not them Settling for the basic stem of life. I thought love was only for those people But love i realised Is for us all It’s in us all It’s the home we never knew we were a part of The best seat at the table Not a myth or fable Love enables us to become a better version of ourselves Love Is beautiful, pure and whole Its two souls combined Designed for each other A lover It’s magic and then some And whilst there may be a million lovers in this lifetime I believe it’s not a crime To climb for the purest love you can find Soul body and mind Someone who feels like home Who never makes you feel like your alone But fills your bones with butterflies And makes your eyes see the world in a different light Might love be for all of us?
By Lauren-Nicole Mayes
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