mouthful of forever

"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."