Leaf / Alive
Pressed / Inside
Held / By time
Death / Denied
Before / This pain
The us / I’ll take
Tuck it / Away
For all / Our days
Colors / And curves
Comfort / Through hurt
Lines / That meet
They’re you / They’re me
Turn / The page
You have / To stay
Don’t drift / Away
Like leaves / Today
So temporary
Some as votives
Others tealights
All bear flames
The reach bottom
Wicks drowned
Extinguished
The faint glow
The festive flicker
Lit moments of romance
Vigils of memory
Metaphors for prayers
Joy when newly lit
Wisdom when burning low
Purpose in the finite
I give of myself freely.
I care deeply about others.
I grapple with their sadness as if it were my own.
I love without conditions.
I hope without ceasing.
I found those same depths in another person.
The connection of every thread of humanity.
The happiness when those threads are wound together.
Entwined in profound ways.
The beauty of unflinching trust and honesty.
The primal passion of gazing at existence with hearts in sync.
That person also found this in me.
How can either of us settle for any less?
How can I be everything and then feel like I’m an option?
How can I be wanted for every fiber of my being one day and not the next?
How can real intimacy not be enough?
How can incredible connection not be the most valuable?
How can I view the stars the same way without her tonight?
How can it be that I still choose every day?
Could it be that it’s meant to be?
I choose the power of love.
I choose commitment.
I choose to pray.
I choose needs over wants.
I choose hope over doubt.
I choose what’s valuable to me.
I choose what’s worth fighting for.
I choose to serve.
I choose to be there always.
I choose to encourage.
I choose to persevere.
I choose to hold.
I choose to give my all.
I choose the silver lining.
I choose to believe in this story.
I choose to hold on.
I choose to never give up.
I choose beauty.
I choose your eyes.
I choose your freckles.
I choose your smile.
I choose my home.
I choose my heart.
I choose undying love.
I choose everyday.
I choose you.
Leaves on fire.
Hoodies over heads.
Steam above cider.
Fog from breath.
Autumn with you.
Hayride for two.
Hearts on ten.
Hand in hand.
When you look at the night sky
And rely purely on human observation
You can feel the wonder of those before us
You can see the stars dangling from a concrete dome
A moon pulled along by a horse and a rider
A ravenous wolf chasing intently
A sea of glass for holy feet
Stars on strings like ornaments
The shifting gears of the world tree
Pinholes in a canvas
Painted with intent by a maker
Named one by one
There’s innocence in those thoughts
Lost to the cold of endless space
Where nothing is stationary
A singularity
A point
An explosion
Then expansion
Endless eons of formation
Then death to fuel birth
A marble hung in black
Circling a perfect distance
Oceans of fortune
Creatures of breath
The images of god
A beginning so minute
Full of infinite mass and potential
Realized over ages
Into the sum of all parts
You feel small at times
So do I
But small is just right
Your weakness holds promise
The preface to explosion
The prelude to stars
The first gasp of new life
Knees marked by wood
A park and a rusty swing
Alone there they stood
A diamond for an answer
The feeling of certainty
A question of forever
Driven by thoughts of escape
Salvation from the law
Plans to run now made
Footprints and a window
Fastened after that
Where did it all go?
We escaped from the rigid
But did we ever build a home?
Did we take a shot and missed it?
My heart was just an option
Once the going got tough
But you were never just a question
Mulch drowns in dirt
If it rains hard enough
It poured road trips and flooded hurt
I took the chips in my hand
I still have some at home
I don’t want to swing there again
It’s a ride down a gravel road
Twisting and turning
Sometimes loosing signal
The end in sight but not in vision
We don’t always know what we want
That’s more often than not
A future of truly living
Or the past and forgiving?
Life’s like a field rattled by wind
All the grass and blooms whipped into tangles
We’re the flowers enshrouded in weeds
Greenery blocking the sight of our needs
There can be beauty in that unknown
Knot by knot, untied and finding a home
Petals freed by pushing ahead
Love from the tangles, alive from the dead
I can’t stop believing
In everything we’ve whispered
I can’t stop holding
Onto those drives down the road
I can’t stop feeling
That I know where my home is
I can’t tell you enough
That I choose you
I can’t stop thinking
About hearing your heartbeat
I can’t stop wishing for
Starving past breakfast
I can’t stop hoping for
More freezing on beaches
I can’t tell you enough
That I choose you
I can’t stop fearing
You’ll think the challenge too great
I can’t stop wanting
Distance to melt away
I can’t stop saying
That you’re more than an option
I can’t tell you enough
That I choose you
Morning by morning
It’s a choice to be made
Not once and done
A commitment each day
The pursuit of a dream
A dream that you’ll stay
I can’t tell you enough
That I choose you
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