Office Magazine.

Manuela Soto Sosa is Office magazine issue 15 cover star. On this occasion, she publishes her first contemporary poem.

Photographer: @coughs, Edits: @coughs +@soto.sosa, Text: @thealexandraweiss + @soto.sosa, Stylist: @soto.sosa, Makeup: @jaime.creates, Hair: @hairstylesby_mya, Manicurist: @theset.bykj

You’ll Be Given Love

In this lifetime, I have let myself be guided by my heart. Following its every beat. It took me around the world, searching for the meaning of love.

The stories differ but the endings stay the same... That was the very last time we saw each other, right after that I left.

“Didn’t you promise not to come back?”

“All things change in a dynamic environment. Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you.”

…

I had a vision of the tragic tale of our past life together and how I drowned myself in the ocean that separated us.

With time, we healed this painful karma but replaced it with one of betrayal.

That was the very last time we saw each other, but this time I didn’t leave...  because I found something far more complex. I found emptiness and solitude which lead me to my soul.

A soul made of the ghosts of all the persons I’ve been.


…

I wasn’t sure how long I’d be staying… I found comfort in my work, tattooing day and night in hotels, on couches and kitchen counters. Just like tattoos, broken hearts don’t always heal so slowly, their permanence a reminder of moments lived. I soon got used to this kind of life. One suitcase and lots of one-night stands but nothing lasts forever anyway. 

“I have a secret to tell you. Will you leave with me?“

“And can you offer me proof of your existence? How can you, when neither modern science nor philosophy can explain what life is?”

I kept my head lowered... to give myself a chance to come closer. But I could not, for lack of courage. I turned and walked away.

…

“You'll be given love

You'll be taken care of

You'll be given love

You have to trust it

Maybe not from the sources

You have poured yours

Maybe not from the directions

You are staring at.”

‘All Is Full of Love,’ Björk, 2019. Quotes inspired by ‘2046’ and ‘Ghost in the Shell.’