"Are you okay?"
You ask

"Well define 'okay'"
I answer

My heart is beating
Granted, too fast

My blood is flowing
I just checked

My brain is functioning
I'm thinking too much

My stomach is active
It's angry for me not eating

My lungs are moving
I'm just out of breath

Beyond physically?
No I'm definitely not okay

for Tracee*

Words can never tell you
Just how much you make me smile
So I hope this makes you happy
Even just a little while

I pledge to you all of me:
My mind, body, and soul
I pledge to you my love
And my days to grow old

I pledge to make you happy
In any way I can
I pledge to always stand by you
And make you feel like a man

I pledge to be a wife,
A woman in full effect,
That means I will be by your side
If you're happy or if you're upset

I pledge to be there for you
On the days that you need me
I can't make a promise,
But I'll try to make it easy

I pledge to you my time
And patience is a must
I pledge to you what makes it work
And that would be my trust

Without a doubt, I'll tell the truth
You deserve nothing less
You've given me all I need and more
And to say the least, I'm blessed

I appreciate you and I will
Never take you for granted
Just know there will be rocky roads
Even if we don't understand it

So I pledge to you a safe trip there
We will make it through
I pledge that I will be just fine
As long as I'm with you

I pledge to you my sanity
It's safer in your hands
I pledge that when we fuss or fight
By night we'll make amends

I pledge to you my health
Because with you I am better
And as long as I am here
I pledge to you forever

what does it feel like to be loved back?
does it let you see rainbows when the weather's gloomy and black?
does it send butterflies and supernovas bursting inside you?
does it make the sky bluer than its usual hue?
what does it feel to have someone hold your hand?
does it take you to wonderland?
what does it feel like to have someone who misses you when you're gone?
does it light up and warm the darkest and coldest parts of you like the sun?
what does it feel like to be hugged by the one you love?
does it take you soaring way beyond the galaxies above?
all my life, my love's never reciprocated
all my life, my love's taken for granted
so tell me, what does it feel to be loved in a romantic kind of way?
will it make me write a better poem when it does come my way?

Invite me into your nightmares.
Open your gates and
I will walk by your side,
holding your trembling hand.
You are not alone in this.
Trust me.

Show me scars and I'll
show you beauty that
marks battles you have conquered.
Look into my eyes and see
Your rawest form and be not ashamed.
I am not.

My love is the infinite stars
That twinkle in the sky and
Set fire to your heart.
I will be your light in the darkest hour
And I will guide you to safety.
Follow me.

I am the still voice that will calm
your troubled waters,
bringing you peace.
Just believe me.
Allow me to enter
Your castle and together
We shall build a dynasty.

And those nightmares will become
mere memories...

Take a brush and paint that
child-like paradise.
You know, like the one
our elders grew up in.

Take me there and show
vibrant colors that swirl in
aerial winds before the
china blue and violets and rues

became fifty shades of gray.
Draw the trees as the giants they
were before they fell and nothing
became of them.

Paint the water before the rivers
ran dry and land was barren.
Splatter the blue to touch my feet
and cool my desert skin.

Paint this scene before me
and place a smile on my face,
then break the brush before
anyone can ruin that paradise

by making it like this one.
Then fold and burn it in your heart
and I will bury in my soul
this work of art so it is never forgotten.

Take these words and hold them dear
as proof that once I lingered here
within these hallowed written walls
that speak the fate of one and all.

Do not mourn me when I'm gone
heal your heart and carry on.
In sorrow ne'er my heart did dwell
for I was blessed to know you well.

Place no flowers, lay no stone
for barren earth is not my home
no marker there to bare my name
no mourners heads bowed deep in shame.

Shed a solitary tear,
then walk in light and never fear
as darkness creeps across the land
I will be there to hold your hand.