Beyond the facade of love, lies the desire for normalcy and freedom.  
An aching yearning for the self, but the self with another.  
The self with a partner.  
That other that fully embraces
          and accepts without
                  judgement or
                      withholding.  
The other that loves,
         but does not need.  
           That needs,
         but not too much.  
All this is covered in love desired.  
We want to love,
       but we want to be free,
                and is there freedom in love?  
Is there not a freedom,
    but with limits
          because there must also be respect.  
Am I not me,
         but I'm the me that I am with you and isn't that a different me?  
For truly,
       you wouldn't want the all of me,
               there are far too many critiques.  
Too many judgments.  
        Too many thoughts that invade the space of my personal realm,
               the one that used to just be me,
                     but I let you in because I love you
                               and I want to be me with you.  
Does this mean you are not you?  
What has this done to the you that I knew?  
How has the me changed you in such a way?  
And now are we just us?  
Is this a facade covered in the language of love?  
            Have we gone mad?  
                  Completely lost ourselves?  
                         Has freedom escaped,
and yet we fight for this new us because it feels good
           and bad
                    and happy
                            and angry all at once?  
This adventure,
         this experience,
                this thing.  
So many consistent inconsistencies,
    but I love you so I navigate them.  
I fight for the me that I knew so well,
   but I love you and so I'll fight to be the me you want me to be.  
So am I still me?  
        Are you still you?  
                    Or are we now us in this language of love?

-KB 2016