Twelve dozen flowers I've yet to see
From countries far away
I'd love to pick each one with you
And watch them all decay

I thought I knew what love was
I read Austen, Bronte, and Shakespeare, too.
I thought I knew what love was
and then I fell in love with you

I am no stranger to love's life and lore
and had been nearly married once before
his alone I swore to be, forever long
thinking it was love until I heard your song

with kindness, passion, and care
you showed me what love could be
with you, my defenses are bare
and it's only your love that I see

I'll give myself to you because
I've found a love both warm and true
I never knew what love was
before I had met you

orchid skies over Italian seas
breath in the salt water breeze
hold hands and watch the sun set
neither ready to go home yet
our legs dangle off the pier
the wild orchids flourish here
their sweet scent carries me to you
the water casts a mirror view
a million stars bloom in the sky
in their white blaze, a reply:
truth and beauty can be found
in every person, touch, or sound
but when I am alone with you
truth and beauty shine right through

stepford wife, smile bright
cook, clean, fix, listen, shine
a trophy, prize, conquest
overused, underloved, broken, dies
unassembled puzzle, incomplete
pieces an unclear fit, break
silent muzzled, scattered, quit
exhausted, out is in a box
for puzzles, games, like little talk
brought to shelved bars, stay
viewed only, never touched
succumb, suffocate, decay

I'm not that kind of doctor,
you tell me, while holding the scalpel
slowly cutting necrotic epidermis
every time you grin and smile
the dead skin tissue, gone
parts of me, mending

My doctorate is in arts,
you say, while holding the needle
slowly stitching cardiac sutures
when you press your lips to my wrist
pieces of my heart sewn together
I am whole once more

I've studied philosophy and literature,
you claim, while holding the pump
slowly collecting platelets and plasma
as you look into my eyes, you are
delivering a life-saving transfusion
every piece is healed

in amphibians, the process
is called ecdysis
shedding, casting off, transforming
birds will moult several times a year
flourishing new plumage
orchids will regrow fallen blooms
the process is natural
but not any easier
especially when we grow apart
but everything changes
and everyone changes
there is no true sort by same
go through a metamorphosis
transmogrify and evolve
leave yourself behind and
recreate who you are
above all, never fear
the change of becoming

open space compels you
forward
walking into lakes and oceans
trigger pulling aim true
from the shallow end to the buoys
keep going, the sea whispers
find the deepest end
submerge
jump from the bridge
they won't notice you're gone
buried in ice water, frozen
chasing the moving horizon
push and pull of waves against body
you're in too deep now
thunder in the distance
black clouds shoot lightning
you close your eyes
wait for it to end
wait for it
wait
a voice says
you won't drown
you feel fingers, pulling you up
helping your body float
their lips touch yours
oxygen transferred resuscitate
together, you see a still surface
you have never been happier
to be corporeal
to have arms and legs
than at that very moment
you realize that you can touch
the person who rescued you
you realize their waves
will carry you back
to shore
home