I want to know you
I learned your middle name yesterday
I want to hear about your day but get distracted because I am lost in the sound of your voice
I want to see myself through your eyes because they are kinder, gentler, more patient
I want to feel my skin under your hands because it is softer, smoother, more tangible
I cannot bear to show you my tears because God forbid you would look on me with kindness and I would know it for the first time
I am afraid as you listen when I talk you will only hear my words and not the heart I hold for you beneath
I want to press my body into yours until the tiny pores of your skin open up and let me in
I want to trace my nails along the contours of your spine and feel your long breath go out with the stress of the day
You have a scar above your eyebrow, I know how it got there
I want to watch the lines on your face as you ripen into old age
I want to know what quickens your heart
What slows your breath
What fills your thoughts
What empties your eyes of their joy
My ears hear no other voice as gently as they do yours
So whisper to me in the dark
That I can stay with you
Until the light returns