I once thought I loved you more than life itself,
as if your very presence denounced all things once beautiful

until I realized that wasn't love
that to love someone is to love everything,
for when you love
it fills your soul until there is no room left for hate
so that each and every insignificant brushstroke of nature
is a masterpiece in and of itself simply for existing

but the world did not rise to your challenge,
your light simply faded from my eyes
until I could see the stars again.