I.  
100 years have passed,
but you still hold me.
Cracking at the seams you fold us down,
and we sigh at the stars
until we don't.

II.
One night, far before that,
you shake the sleep from your eyes
while I snore,
and a baby cries.

III.
I cry during my vows.
Maybe you do, a little, too.
We dance, matching each other,
spinning stories with our bodies.
Threaded together.

IV.
I expand with pain
until I collapse. You keep the light going
I don't turn into,
a black hole.

V.
Fire blossoms in our chests
We carve each other
with words until, unexpectedly,
we laugh.

VI.
Everything is blurry now
We walk slow, in pain,
complaining about time's
betrayal.

VII.
The whole time,
I love you like the sea
and pillows of summer clouds
that gather into sheets of rain.
I love you like thunder
and dragons
tater tots and scrabble
a promise whispered,
every day, a secret song
humming.
video games
and rainy days, a
lamp on the desk.
or maybe, a pair of
jeans.
a cherry tree in Maryland
I love you like I forgot death,
and remembered magic.
and then we made it
every day.
We never forgot it again.
And it was never a waste of our time.
not one
little
bit.