You
Are the worst thing that ever happened to my writing because
You
Are all I want to write about ever ever ever and
You
Are far more than words could ever dream of describing.

I’ve been known
To take on more than I can handle.
To see the overflowing ocean
That contains the tears of the world
And to try to catch every single one
With my own two hands.

I’ve been known
To fall apart at the seams
When I realize there are droplets
Falling
Through the cracks of my fingers.

I’ve been known
To cave in on myself
And blame my hands
For never being big enough.

I’ve been known
To seem reminiscent of the sea,
Always coming back for more
No matter how many times I’ve been pushed away
By the shore.

I’ve been known
To love too easy,
To trust too much,
To land myself in quagmire
After quagmire
After sinking ship,
Giving off the impression that I was always calmly floating
While inside this dappled shell of ginger
And cinnamon
And sass
I’ve been barely clinging to the flotsam.

I’ve been known to get too attached
Blind faith my only guide
Occasionally mistaking the plank for
Solid ground
And walking right off it.

I’ve been known to backfire.
I’ve been known to sink my own ship.
I’ve been known to set out
With none-but-moral intentions
And end up lost
In the map of my own mind.

I’ve been known to drop the sails
Lower the colours
Abandon ship
Upon finding myself in the middle of a self-made
Maelstrom.

I have been known to ignore the lighthouse
Become a sponge
And crash into the rocky shore.
Absorbing all the hurt so seamlessly you’d think I’d been wrung dry

I’ve been known to dive in headfirst
And come up seething
When I realized the storm was more
Than I could handle

All I ever wanted
Was to save the world
With my own two hands.

Now I have my own savior
Handing me a bucket
And reminding me
That every storm is just a bunch of drops
And that all cracks can be repaired

I need you
To undress me until there’s nothing left.
Unwrap the layers until you’ve unraveled the mystery,
Left it bare,
Freed me from my mind.
Because I can’t take it in here anymore.

I never knew
How love could be.
How it could catch you off guard
And wrap you in a sense of security.
Like waking up in the middle of the night
Disoriented
And realizing she’s still next to you
And in her sleep she sensed your distress
And curled into your arms.
How it could hit you so suddenly
Like looking around at the world one day
And realizing you want to hand it to her
On a silver platter.
How it can make you feel like you belong somewhere
Even with all your flaws and crooked edges
Like a puzzle piece that finally found its mate.

I never knew
My missing piece would look so different.
So different from what I predicted.
So different from my puzzle.

I never knew.
But I suppose that’s the beauty of it.
I’m certainly not complaining.

Love hits me with everything she does.
Love hits me every time she breathes.
Every time I wake up next to her
And want nothing more than to kiss her shoulders for the rest of my days.
Every time I want nothing more than to kiss her for the rest of my days.
Every time we fight.
Every time we sit next to each other doing nothing more than reading.
Every time we’re both too stubborn to admit we’re both wrong.
Every time I’m drunk.
Every time I’m alone.
Every time I breathe
And my heart aches with every inhale
And every exhale
Because there’s a set of stitches
Where she walked in and took a piece of my heart
And replaced it with a piece of her own.
And that space is more sensitive when she’s gone.
It feels twice the pain of her absence.
Mine
And hers.

I never knew
How love could be.
But I sure like learning new things.

As long as you don't bring attention to yourself
You'll be safe.

Yes.
But how many others
Won't be

"Stand back,"
They say.
"Lay low,"
They ask.
Never stick your neck out
Too far.
But if everyone retracts into their shell
At the first signs of progress,
Will the world stay the same,
It will it go backwards.

We feel the need to capture light
And put it in jars
With holes in the lid.
As if we could capture stars.

We sit on the deck as darkness falls
And watch the weakened sky break,
Get punctured with holes.
We were never good with the dark.

We sit at a table with food left untouched
And lock eyes in battle,
Let heated words fly.
One of us has to be right.

We sit on our *****
And watch progress come at us
Laugh as it passes us by.
Someone else can change the world.