My partner doesn’t love me smaller.

Doesn’t tell me,

“You are getting too big for my ego.”

Never says, “please hide,

You’re embarrassing me.”

He wouldn’t cover my body in shame.

He’s too busy decorating me in praise.

He smiles when I grow.

Celebrates the space I take up.

He calls me worthy,

Knows I deserve to be seen.

He could put my face on a Jumbotron,

And still not see a single flaw.

He’d be too lost in seeing my eyes,

With that much color.

I am in a field,

Embraced by a forest.

It is only

You and I.

Our bodies

Are a contemporary dance routine.

While our eyes stay

Fixated

On each other.

Your exhale

Surrounds my face in warmth;

I become your inhale.

You told me,

“I always am

A part of you”

I believe you,

Because I once heard

Your reassurance

In my bold laughter.

Once, your eyes took over mine,

When I was looking in the mirror.

I saw myself as you do.

The grass rustles,

And I get goosebumps,

Everything here

Is soft, gentle.

Smooth rocks

Covered in pillows of moss.

Weary trees sit down instead of falling.

The birds sing to us,

And we sing back.

I belong here with you,

Somewhere as soft as me.

The breeze never tells me I’m too quiet,

And neither do you.

With no other noise around,

We finally hear each other perfectly.

In my opinion, the best hugs are bear,
And the best kisses have a little bite to them.
I want to feel the flame that lights your heart,

Even if it burns.
In my opinion, love comes in many forms,
And tastes,
And smells.
The other day I accidentally said I love you,
And that didn't go over well,
Because we are "just friends",
Or something like that….

I think I need to go back to kindergarten

where I learned to tie my shoes,
Because I'm tripping on the definition of elementary words.
Friend.
Love.
Forgive my slip of the tongue.

I didn't mean I want to make you mine,
Tie you down,
Bury your dreams in tomorrow's or could've beens.
I didn't mean I love you like a vow,
To never let you go.
I meant I love you,
Like I don't even want to go on a real date with you because your bedroom is my favorite restaurant,

And we are past all that chivalry stuff,

The only door I want you opening for me is the one to your thoughts.

I meant that time becomes inconsequential when I’m with you.

I like to go swimming in your eyes,

And dancing through your veins to the beat of your heart.

I want to lick your sweat and nuzzle your armpits;

I want to be weird with you.

Because I love you like each kiss we share always feels long overdue,
Like we can talk for too goddamn long about nothing,
Like we can talk about everything.
I meant I love you,
Like a gift you may not want but I'm offering,
Freely,
To care about you in exactly the ways you need me to,
Like it might not last forever,
But it will absolutely last through the night.
If you're gone in the morning I'll know why,

because I know you.
I meant I love you like my journal is filled

With years of me trying to pin down exactly how I feel about you,

Because I do love you,
Just not like I'm supposed to.

If “the most wasted of all days is one without laughter,”

We have never wasted a day.

Almost every word that leaves your mouth,

Teases a smile from my lips,

I am thankful,

Because waste is such an ugly thing,

And you make my life beautiful.

If happiness could be defined by a singular moment,

It would be Sunday morning lying on your couch,

Sun pouring through the window,

We’re watching life carry on without us.

People moving from place to place with such purpose,

Like some kind of high tech screensaver,

While we just sit there,

Slowly melting into each others beings,

Likewise melting into the couch.

The sun can be powerful like that,

Even filtered through a glass box.

If your couch could take us anywhere,

It would take us to Italy,

Where houses are filled with light and laughter,

Brimming with family and friends,

Like overflowing pasta dishes,

Amazing, but often way too much to take in all at once.

But, no, it wouldn’t take us there for the jubilant chaos,

It would take us there for the aftermath,

When the sink is clogged with dishes,

That are caked with drying glop,

When the house still has a slight echo,

From the boisterous voices that filled it just moments ago,

When we finally get to put up our feet,

Ignore the work that will need to get done in the morning,

And lay on our couch,

With the moonlight pouring through the window.

Peace is felt best by tired muscles,

And sleep is most welcomed by over-exerted minds.

Goodnight, we would whisper to the moon

And if the moon could respond,

He would say to us “You earned it.

Sleep well, my darlings.

Feel the peace that I have granted you,

Because you took the time to look at me,

With wide eyes,

And forget the earthly things for just a little while.”

But Sunday night came around,

And it's close relation to Monday morning,

Scared us into moving.

Time can be funny like that,

How it moves slowly in the moment,

But you turn around to see it's all gone,

And you wonder where it went,

But not even the moon can the tell you,

And he’s been around for a lot longer than we can ever hope to be.

Time,

Is neither created nor destroyed,

Because it doesn’t really exist in the first place.

It’s here and gone simultaneously.

It’s melted by moments in the sun,

And frozen by gazing at the moon.

It’s unreal,

Yet it defines everything about us.

If we could redefine ourselves,

And take away the weight that time carries,

Would it be like a pendulum suddenly without a pivot?

A crash landing.

Or would be like a baby bird learning to use her wings?

A couple crash landings,

Resulting in absolute empowerment.

Would it then be possible to not feel the guilt of laugh-less days,

Before you came around,

And even smiling took too many muscles.

Would it then be possible to live like we actually want to,

Not how we feel we need to?

You could travel the whole world,

Before you even realized you missed someone,

They were just there after all,

Forever ago,

Because without time,

Everything would be happening simultaneously.

If the sun could talk,

He would say, “Don’t dream so big.

If you reach too hard for the stars,

You’ll burn up in the atmosphere.

I’ve seen it happen.

Wake back up to reality.

Time is what keeps us all moving,

Don’t trade that for anything.

The moon is right about one thing,

You will find peace by gazing at the sky,

Peace that you have always already earned,

Just by being part of this magnificent universe.”

Time can be tricky like that,

How it tries to disguise itself as the enemy,

Constantly up in arms against us,

When really it just a friend with tough love,

A parent with guiding punishments.

All Time really wants from us,

is not to be wasted.