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Poetry by Rowan Evans

Tag: honesty

  • Love Is Choice: A Manifesto on Real, Intentional Love by Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans

    Introduction

    Recently, I’ve seen a lot of people online talking about love—what it is, what it should be and what it feels like. A lot of it makes it sound like love should be a fairytale, or something effortless. I wanted to share my own take: what love really is, from my perspective. This is my manifesto.

    Silhouettes of two people standing side by side, hands nearly touching, bathed in warm sunrise light, representing devotion and choice in love.
    Love is not effortless—it is choice, presence, and devotion, alive in everyday moments.

    Love Is Choice: A Manifesto
    Manifesto by Rowan Evans

    Love is not a fairytale.
    It is not magic, destiny, or some effortless, perfect emotion that simply exists.
    Love is work.
    Love is patience.
    Love is showing up, again and again, even when it is hard, even when it is mundane, even when it is inconvenient.

    Love is choice.
    It is the decision to walk beside someone, to carry their weight with them—not instead of them, but alongside them.
    It is the conscious commitment to witness, honor, and respond to who they are, fully, unedited, and without trying to fix what isn’t broken.

    Love is active.
    It is listening when words are hard to find.
    It is staying present when life shakes everything apart.
    It is forgiving, learning, compromising, and holding space without judgment.

    Love is honest.
    It does not gloss over pain or disappointment.
    It does not pretend every moment is blissful or effortless.
    It sees the darkness, acknowledges it, and chooses to stay.
    It sees the light, celebrates it, and nurtures it.

    Love is courageous.
    It is daring to be vulnerable, to give your heart fully without demanding repayment.
    It is resisting the temptation to escape when the weight is heavy, the storm is loud, or the moment is uncomfortable.
    It is understanding that enduring love is not measured by feeling, but by action.

    Love is sacred.
    It is not about ownership, perfection, or control.
    It is about respect, devotion, and the sacred trust that comes from seeing someone in their entirety and still choosing them.

    Love is worth the ache.
    The effort is not a burden—it is proof of devotion.
    The work is not punishment—it is a labor of care.
    The challenges are not failures—they are the evidence that love is real.

    Love is choice.
    Love is effort.
    Love is presence.
    Love is not a fairytale—but it is extraordinary, transformative, and alive in the everyday, ordinary moments that are shared with intention.

    If you’re looking for more poetry, you can find it here → [The Library of Ashes]

  • Every Word I Mean — A Vulnerable Confessional Poem by Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans

    Author’s Note

    Every Word I Mean is one of the most vulnerable things I’ve written in a while—not because it hides behind metaphor, but because it refuses to.
    I’m used to expressing the deepest truths in symbols, shadows, and lyrical disguises. But this time, I wanted to speak plainly. To show what it looks like when I mean something so much that I don’t need to dress it in poetry.

    Every line in this piece is something I’ve said in real life—honestly, openly, without hesitation. These aren’t metaphors or masks; they’re just my truth. And putting that truth into ink feels almost more intimate than any confession I’ve written before.

    This is me without armor.
    Just words I meant, and still mean.

    — Rowan Evans

    A warm, softly lit page with handwritten lines and a fountain pen resting beside it, symbolizing intimate and honest writing.
    A quiet moment of truth poured into ink — every word written with intention.

    Every Word I Mean
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    If I speak it,
    in words or ink,
    then know I mean it.

    Because I don’t say things
    just to say them—
    I only say them
    when I feel them.

    Like—
    I love
    your smile,
    your laugh,
    your nose.
    (It’s cute, really.)
    I think you’re beautiful,
    and I’m not going anywhere.
    I’m never going to leave.
    I want to build a real foundation.
    Show you the love and respect
    you deserve.

    With me,
    I always want you
    to feel safe and heard.

    These are all things I’ve said—
    not hidden in poems,
    not wrapped in metaphors.
    I said them plainly,
    straightforward,
    unshaken.

    And maybe that’s why
    I write it now—
    not to hide the truth,
    but to honor it.

    To show you that
    even my simplest words
    carry weight,
    carry intention,
    carry you.

    Because when I say anything—
    whether in ink
    or breath—
    it’s because I feel it:
    every syllable,
    every moment,
    every piece of you
    that I’ve come to love.

    Suggested Reads

    [Over and Over]
    A vulnerable, deeply honest poem about choosing someone again and again—despite distance, fear, and the chaos between two very different worlds. Over and Over captures that wild gravity between two people who weren’t meant to collide… yet somehow did.

    [The Power You Give Me]
    A poem about sacred intimacy, quiet devotion, and the kind of connection that feels like sorcery without spells. The Power You Give Me explores how trust, desire, and vulnerability turn touch into magic—and why real power is held by the person who lets you close.

    [Carved From Intention]
    A poem about the quiet, deliberate way I love—and the frustration of being misunderstood. Not all affection is loud or scattered; some of us give ourselves slowly, carefully, and only with intention.

    Looking for even more poetry?
    You can explore everything in The Library of Ashes.