Sometimes it gets really rough
Before things turn around
The key is never to give it up
Soon you'll make a victory sound

Never stop believing
Even when believing is tough
Never stop putting in work
Even when it looks like it's not working

The victory season is fast approaching!

The first night I stayed under the stars at your house,
I tossed and turned until finally I woke you with
Soft kisses over your bare shoulders and on your chest
Just above your heart.
After stirring out of your slumber, your lips brushed mine
And the crook of your arm fit perfectly around
My body as you held me close.
One of us just barely awake, the other wide.

Learning to sleep with someone new takes time;
Discovering the way their chest rises and falls
Like the tide comes up to kiss the sand
Before receding back and pushing forward again.
Listening to their deep breaths as they lay
Almost lifeless on their back,
Matching their breaths to heartbeats beneath your cheek.
The way they stir in the sleep and reposition
Themselves so their arm holds you safe and secure
Even when they’re dreaming.

Whisper your breath against my neck
Like the wind speaks through the tree leaves.
Feel my pulse beneath your lips,
Over my wrists,
Next to my jawline,
Hovering about my still heart.
Spill blood rushing in my veins,
Into my lungs and send
A tornado of butterflies
Spinning deep within my stomach.
I want to fly into your garden
And flutter in such a harmony
That piano keys long to be touched
With a tenderness that only fingertips can hold.

Today is the first day of autumn
And I’m falling for you like the leaves
Begin to litter the ground;
Slow and steady until
I completely come undone.
I’m a storm of color raining with gravity.
The nights in which you hold me close
Are those that I cling to most.
I am the bark that’s wrapped
Around a tree that will weather
The hail, wind and lightning
While protecting you.
We love as though I am your heroine.
But you are the hero, saving me from
The demons who hide inside,
Waiting to strike like a match fresh from the box;
Anxiously awaiting to spark a flame within
My veins, sending smoke rising deep inside
My stomach; hungry for my body.
You’re a gentle animal who’s gone
Without food for days.
Savor the taste of my breath over your
Skin as I whisper your name beneath the stars.
Love me like I am a candle burning out.
Love me because you’re desperately
Afraid of darkness.

Pull me into your ocean arms
And let me ride your waves like
A boat without any sails.
If I fall overboard
Without a lifejacket,
Let me drown in the salty waters
Of your veins;
Let me learn to swim
In your deep depths
And search for your heart
Like a lighthouse on the pier.