I’m scared.
Scared of everything.
Waking up,
Going to sleep.
Falling in love,
Falling out of it.
Traveling the world,
Leaving my bed.

I’m scared.
Scared of everything.
To make new friends,
To miss out on connection.
Trying something new,
Leaving my comfort zone.
Risking it all,
Playing it safe.

I’m scared.
Scared of everything.

Snow falling with grace
Blistering exposed skin
Childhood joy revisited

If you focus on everything bad that could happen,
If you’re consistently worried about maybe,
You will always miss what is.
And by the time you realize,
If ever,
You sulk in the fact that it once was.

75 years if you’re lucky.
That’s all the time we have.
Once it’s gone,
That’s it.
In pouring rain,
You complained of getting wet,
When the opportunity to feel it’s touch,
And dance as if no one was watching was right there.
In flurries of snow,
You groaned of blistering cold,
When in piles of powder,
Angels awaited your embrace.

There’s no time to waste,
And in regret—
is no way to live.
Enjoy the heartbreak,
The sorrow in loss,
The feeling of failure.
For they serve as a lasting reminder,
Of the first kiss,
The many moments,
And your greatest achievements.
Pull your head from the sand and live.

It wasn’t love at first sight,
But—
Intrigue.
A visceral knowing,
Knowing that despite the uncertainty,
Despite the distance,
Despite all odds,
Our paths destined to converge.
Two streams,
Pouring into one basin,
A single destination,
A fountain of life.

Like a flower unfurling its soft petals,
You became known to me.
You became understood.
A lifetime together still not enough to quench my soul’s thirst for you.
Each day a mesmerizing impression,
A persistent reminder to the splendor that is you.

So no, it was not love at first sight,
But instead—
in every waking moment,
Each glance or unbroken stare,
Within each tender touch,
And quiet conversation,
You were loved.
Such an opportunity surely a gift from God.

My hands trace your skin,
miles last only seconds.
Bursting from each pore,
Intoxicating aromatics beckon.
A reckoning,
a realization.

Longing for completion,
I’m a traveler on the estuaries of your canvas
Each stroke an adhesion
With every breath,
a confession
Time ceases, you—
my obsession.

Our bodies sealed eternally,
An enthralling finale.

A heart in two places—
mangled amongst arrogance and grief
Yet itself knows not what it chases,
uncertainty driving a knife at the crease

How can pain exist where flowers grow
And beauty where turmoil trolls
Helpless to its advance,
selfishness seeks its new-sprung spoil

In the indefinite hour—
a sudden shift,
a soothing sound.
A seraphic melody fills each chamber,
Empathy emerges—
Satiating the depths of the heart
Saturated— it ignites.

Birthed anew,
every beat a thundering resonance,
a renewal of righteousness
Animosity decimated in the face of adoration.
The essence of self—
Carnality—
succumb to love’s absolute embrace