She woke up
And she could feel
His chest
Rising and falling underneath her fingertips
And she thought
She'd fall back asleep
Over
And over
And over again.
Just to wake up
Draped in him
Over
And over
And over again.

What I know is that rain will fall
Some days when I don't have time to grab a coat.
But I get to decide that your arms are warmer
Anyway.

No, I will not blame the explorer,
Because I have been there.
Because I have sailed my broken ship
Through rough waters
On to the rocky shore
And watched the harsh winds tear to shreds what I'd worked so hard creating.
I remember the heartbreak-
I still have the bruises-
And I could not leave again.
But I remember
And because of that I am certain
Of what you could not possibly know.
And that's worth travelling the world for.

I searched through every word
In every language spoken and unspoken
Spanning continents
Through time and space
And couldn't find one acceptable enough to replace
The one you took from the tip of my tongue
When you kissed me good morning
And left me breathless.

If moments between breaths were made of pure
Raw
Unaltered distance,
I would have cursed my own skin for standing between us when we had the chance.
Because now that the miles are filling up my lungs
My heart won't beat in rhythm
And every muscle aches to run back home.

He would stand in the doorway every morning if it meant he could
Memorize the way she cradled the coffee in both of her hands.
And how her mouth kissed her cup hello, still too hot to drink.
He hated how the sunrise always ran over her face before he could even open his eyes to watch her breathe in the day,
But she made up for it in how her feet never truly touched the ground
And her perfume took residence in his pillow so even when she left
She was still there.
It wasn’t hard for him to realize that she was as much a part of his home as the socks that always found their way back under the bed.
And he’d never be able to look at that old, goodwill coffee machine again
Without thinking of the weight of her presence rising and falling on his chest.

How could it happen that you meet a person
And in one short moment
You can feel them rattle every bone in your body
So the rest of your time is spent dousing the flames they sparked inside you
And hoping they're doing the same.