The Thread of Commitment - A Plex Collaboration

Emperor Penguins and Gibbons endure 

Great hardships unique to their respective environments 
Braving antarctic winters and tropical forest perils

In monogamous partnerships
A united front against the outside world
They learn to sing together
Tunes unique to each pair 
The strength of their bond on full display
In a wild romance

And yet as the highest order of primates
With everything at our fingertips 
We are reluctant

We even dance alone

On poles, and in alley-ways
Abandoning the synchronized choreography 

In which both partners take flight
Unlike the Albatross, it is not fidelity, 

But seduction we've been taught

 

"Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it"
But, wait, that's just love…
Swans do it, Prairie Voles do it, even California Mice do it 
When did it become so difficult for us?
Commitment, the highest form of trust
Cultivates a garden we can all eat from
Sowing seeds for future generations 
To reap, where we make the leap
Settle down and create community

 

A binding love that overcomes conflict

And stands in the face of uncertainty

Testing our resolve and defining our identity

Fluid, adapting as is necessary

To meet each obstacle

Braving our changing environment  

Culturing good habits, thriving 

Through shared experience

Like love letters sent by post across oceans

We are leaving artifacts of our devotion

Rocks that we pass down

Creating ripples in reflection 

 

-BB 

 

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What binds the swan to its mate,
Year after year, through silent dawns and storm-tossed lakes?
Is it instinct, or a quiet promise whispered
Beneath the rushes, where wild hearts wait?

Prairie voles, shy and small,
Build their lives in tandem,
Sharing burrows, sharing burdens—
Proof that love is not just a human anthem.

Emperor penguins huddle close
Against the biting Antarctic night,
Trading warmth, trading hope,
Each one trusting the other to hold tight.

And what of us, with our restless minds
And hearts that ache for more?
We pledge, we falter, we return—
Haunted by freedom, longing for the familiar shore.

Commitment is a bridge we build
Stone by patient stone,
A shelter from the world’s cold winds,
A place we dare to call our own.

Yet obstacles rise—
Fear of loss, the lure of flight,
Old wounds that whisper,
“Stay safe. Stay light.”

But look—
The swans still glide in mirrored pairs,
The penguins endure the endless night,
And sometimes, so do we:
Choosing, again and again,
To stay, to trust, to try.

For in the end, commitment is not a cage,
But a garden—tended, tested, true—
Where love, like wildflowers,
Blooms anew.

  

-Plex