I have a love that tells me I am home,
no matter where in the world I am.

I see green not just as a hue,
but as the sigh of chlorophyll’s breath beneath an open sky.

That carousels, though merry,
are wrought by unseen currents,
and flowers bloom best when it is spring.

In the pause before a word,
in the flicker of a glance not yet shared,
In the beat of silence before our next thought,
in the quiet you leave behind when you leave,
and the silence you bring when you return.

I know love, because I have been loved,
because of how long I have loved—
and because of the man I love;
you, because of you.