-Ｓｈａｅ-

I am not the first person you loved. You are not the first person I looked at with a mouthful of forevers. We have both known loss like the sharp edges of a knife. We have both lived with lips more scar tissue than skin. Our love came unannounced in the middle of the night. Our love came when we’d given up on asking love to come. I think that has to be part of its miracle. This is how we heal. I will kiss you like forgiveness. You will hold me like I’m hope. Our arms will bandage and we will press promises between us like flowers in a book. I will write sonnets to the salt of sweat on your skin. I will write novels to the scar of your nose. I will write a dictionary of all the words I have used trying to describe the way it feels to have finally, finally found you. And I will not be afraid of your scars. I know sometimes it’s still hard to let me see you in all your cracked perfection, but please know: whether it’s the days you burn more brilliant than the sun or the nights you collapse into my lap your body broken into a thousand questions, you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I will love you when you are a still day. I will love you when you are a hurricane.

Walk by a church and don’t look back. Kiss me until we’re both bleeding. Call it holy. Call it God. Call it the most important thing either of us has ever done. You’ve got a heart like a holy book. I’ve marked all my favorite scriptures. We don’t worship the way other people worship, but that’s okay. That’s okay. I found God in the curve of your spine. You found Him in the hollow between my collarbones. He always shows up when we least expect. Tell me, how does your heart feel with my teeth in it? They say this isn’t good for either of us, but I am not a good person. I am not even a person. I am communion wine dripping down your chin. I am sharp teeth tearing at the tenderness of you. I am a god, and you worship, worship, worship.