She is not a prize but that does not mean you should not prize her
Keep her heart on the mantle but light a fire beneath it to keep her warm and kind
Don’t keep her hidden like a secret she has already been bottled up her whole life
Show her off like a lottery ticket it was nothing more than luck that brought her into your life
This was not your own doing and you will do well to remember that
Give her a place to hide when the sun is too bright and the wind is too loud
But don’t treat her like a caged animal she does not belong to you
She is a canvas but you are not the artist and you do not touch her without her written consent
The right to decorate her body with your fingerprints or your kisses does not belong to you
Keep your hand outstretched to her at all times
She knows herself better than you do and she will take it when she needs it
When she cries don’t stop her and when she smiles smile with her
These are honest forms of communication so listen when she talks to you
Never yell at her she doesn’t deserve that
Don’t treat her like a child anymore her parents did enough of that
If she falls asleep first she feels safe whatever you do hold on to that
She is already scared of the ways she can hurt herself she doesn’t need to be afraid of the ways you can hurt her
And whatever you do don’t give her a reason to leave
She might think you want her to
*~W.C.

i am an old soul
in young love and out of body
i have ceased to hide

you always
remind me of
a puzzle piece
i can never quite
figure you out

Oh, I see—you liked it when I used that big word, huh?
You want me to use some more?
Mm, let me just grab my pocket Thesaurus.
Yeah, that's right baby, I take it everywhere with me—
I find it quite useful in these… situations.

Right now, I could give you seven variations
of the word “****.”
Seductive
         Arousing
                Provocative
                          Se­nsuous
                 Mmhm, you liked that one, didn't you?
                    Libidinous
           Suggestive
Titillating…
You'd like more, I can tell,
but I need you to want it.

Let's go somewhere quiet
and thumb through
my college style manuals for a few hours.
We could talk about sentence variety,
the Oxford comma, some syntax,
and mm, if you're feeling real good,
maybe even discuss the proper usage of a semi-colon.

Just know, I've been saving semi-colons
for, you know, that special someone.

If things get a little steamy, we can go down to the basement
and I'll show you my Scrabble board.
I'll set you up for a triple-word score,
and you can put together some of those high-scoring,
two-letter words that really get me going.
Oh yeah, I think I'd be into your strategy.

When the game is over, I'll lean you back,
come in real close, and whisper some Neruda,
some Cummings,
some Dickinson
softly into your ear.
Afterward, I’ll trace lines of Hughes and Whitman
down your naked spine with my fingers.

I'm sure you know it's only polite
to return the favor.

It's just an idea.
I know it sounds good.
Trust me, I'll be gentle—
But baby, believe me—
I could punctuate you in all the right places.