Love, true love
Is a radical act
That I'm only now learning
Or relearning

Love is "a deep and tender feeling of affection for or attachment or devotion" according to the dictionary
But simply put, it is care, acceptance, trust
When the butterflies are gone
You and them are alone
And you still want to be there

I started to assume that wanting to date me
Meant wanting things from me
My work, my words, my body
Saying 'I love you' was a stage in a relationship
After you've been full of giddiness and longing
And before you move in together

I'm realizing that you care for me
You really really care for me
You want to listen to my troubles
You want me to go to the doctor
You want me to wear a helmet
You don't care if all we do in bed is cuddle

You love my good heart
You love my maturity
You love my views on life
You love my high and low energies
You love my stubbornness

You are committed to putting in the effort
To make a relationship continue
When I'm no longer giddy in love
You don't wish for me to still be
A manic pixie dream girl
You're happy to be with all versions of me

You are accepting
You are trusting
You are caring
You love me

Simple as that

When you hugged me tight and swung me in your arms
I knew for certain that I liked you

The conversation where you admitted you couldn't cuddle me as friends
Made me want to date you more than anything

The conversation where I told you not to touch me
Left me wishing to kiss you

I don't want to get away with just a hookup
I want to join that big sweet heart to mine and do everything together

I want to help each other on a bouldering move
Then make out on the mat

My friend tells me a workplace romance is ok if it's discreet
I'm hoping your girlfriend will give us her blessing

She's right that I have no red flags
I bite back my response that I'm a fantastic girlfriend

Oooooo forbidden fruit
Seems the sweetest

I wish I'd be taken in someone's arms
It could be his
It could be my mother's
It could be God's
Any would be a comfort

You know me so well
We talk solely in code
One winks backwards
The other laughs

I am your goat
You are my monkey
The sweetest nicknames
Because they belong to us

I lie in bed with you for hours
Feel your warm skin and
Wish I could be forever closer
Languid yet excited to have you

This is not a spark
No fireworks
This is the stage
Of a slow deep burn

Ahh but when I'm distraught
You comfort me well down
And when I'm careless to my health
You protect me from myself

We joke and shove and ****
Like children in schoolyards
Yet we massage and cook for the other
Like years-long dear lovers

If you had it in you
To be just a smidge less of a troll
I'd sing you sonnets
That would make a siren blush

I swear my kisses are innocent
But you take them in so deeply
My breath catches
Your hands tighten
And we are lost in each other