We were both utterly hopeless,
I thought, when your eyes
glowed when our faces grew close,
when ***** made your cheeks flush,
when your hand was allowed to tickle, to linger, with lips parted
and a smile easing onto your face;
when we sat and studied and sang
and took time and wrapped it up in laughter and whispers;
when you reached out to me, and
I stayed in the darkness so that you would always search
for my helping heart.

Then one night, as I stared at the hillside dotted
with candle lights of lives beginning to sleep,
and we were exploring our world again and I was dreaming,
You walked behind me
your arms slinked around me
your lips searched for mine
you said, "I'd rather have this now than never have it at all."

And there I was, the one utterly hopeless, for I saw
the shackles around my wrists.
But I kissed you anyway.
again and again and again,
As if each kiss could capture back
all the bits of hope I had lost
by placing them in you