GRAMMAR OF THE HEART - by Eyitoluwase Soyinka

So imagine with me as I take you on this stroll through my thoughts.I was once walking the streets of my supposed great university.Wondering why I’m starting with this? I’ll tell you.That day, I found out the guy I was interested in — the one who kissed me like he was sorry for not restraining his desire — was actually planning to buy a food platter for another girl.Funny, yes, I know.Anyway, I made the walk down to my hostel, and it seemed the devil made that journey with me. For everywhere I looked, there was someone holding someone’s hand, someone trying to toast another who was obviously not interested, someone grinning slyly at their partner as he carried her bag.And this thought passed through me:What is truly love?Like, what really is the concept of it?So yes, today I decided to understand what love means, and I hope I make enough sense for the both of us.If love was a verb, what would it say?Would it define itself in actions — the unasked-for gifts and dates, the 2 a.m. phone calls because they missed your voice, the compromise to make time out of your busy schedule for that person?Would that be love alone?If love was an adjective, would it speak in how it qualifies you?The words of affirmation whispered softly into your ears:“You’re the most exquisite soul I’ve ever encountered, and without you, I have no existence.”Lord, have mercy.If I slipped into it being a pronoun, would it be exchanging your name for words like baby, pumpkin, sugar pie, Ife mi ! The only cockroach in my cupboard?Is that how you’ll see it?What if I defined it as a conjunction?Would it only focus on the act of sexual intimacy , the joining of two different bodies in perfect tandem?And if I dared to dream of it as an adverb — the one that asks the how and when?How did you know I was the one?When did you start falling for me?Where are we heading with us?And if being presumptuous was enough, maybe I could define it as a preposition- a word that underscores what they share like the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone.Or maybe I’m wrong, and it’s really an interjection, the way we pause time when we see each other, how despite distance we still enjoy fiery conversations and easy banter.But none of them convinced me.None.They didn’t uncover what I truly wanted to understand.So I remembered one I had overlooked.What if I see it as that?Could it really be?I placed a dictionary in front of me and read " A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, idea, or state of being " And it just clicked.Love is a noun.A state of being.An identity.It is not conditioned on anything. It is almost like the name your parents gave you when you were born, nothing can take your name away from you.That’s what love should be seen as...you.

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