I honestly wish
I could explain
What you mean to me
And what you do

You are a life saver
A miracle, you could say
You held me at my worst
And wiped away my tears

You listened to me
And did whatever you could
To make me smile

I was on edge
And wanted to jump
But you held my hand
And pulled me back
Then held me against your chest so tight
As if I'd disappear otherwise

You convinced me
To stop the self-harm
Because you knew
My need for other's safety
Was a larger priority to me
Then my health

You told
Whatever I did to myself
You'd do it
To your body
Because you knew
I didn't want that

Whenever I panicked
You held my hands
That way I couldn't fall into old habits
Of tearing my skin apart

You make me smile
And pull me out of my self-hate
And depression
Faster than anyone else

I've never met anyone quite like you
Because even though
You're just as broken as me
You love me anyways
And we are fixing each other
At the same time
Without even trying

You mean more to me
Then I think you realize
Because no matter what I say
It isn't even close to what I actually feel

You smile at me
And I can't stop the smile
That forms on my lips

Whenever you kiss my temple
Or forehead
I get butterflies

Whenever you hug me
Or hold me against your chest
I feel like nothing could hurt me
As if it's the safest place in the world

When you "pick on" me
I can't help but laugh
And smile
And do it back

Whenever I act like a kid
You have this cute little smile
That is reserved for me
Because you think I'm being cute

Even though we aren't together
All the time
You take care of me

You make sure I eat
And take my medicine
You make sure I get sleep
And get my school work done

You're the first thought I have in the morning
And last thought before I go to bed

You're the reason I smile
And the reason I laugh

You help me be
A better person than I was
You don't baby me
Or feel the need to shelter me

You protect me
But see me as an equal

You pulled me out of the dark
And showed me the light
That I have inside
And showed me what everyone else sees
Which is something no one has been able to do before

I believe God gave me you
For a specific reason
And I believe it's because
We build each other up
And make each other better people

And to think
This all happened
Because you needed a friend
While you were hurting
And I reached out
And now here we are

And I'm hopelessly
In love with you
And I'm falling harder every day

And I'm really glad that you're there to catch me

I'd give a penny for your thoughts
If I thought that there was something
Anything at any time but now
Come to think of it there's one thing
The thought that you could have a thought
Is worth a penny not just nothing
So take the penny and know that
Your thoughts have value
Even though it's just a penny
It's still something

If you have enough courage
Do great things
and show people the other face of  greatness

Without you
I can be me.
Without you
I can breathe.

Before I begin, allow me to explain,
I too loved.. once,
so think of me not as some cynic-
nor as a master in the ways of love-
but rather as a keen observer-
now, that may mean I have nothing to offer you-
no insider knowledge-
no secrets of love-

But I do  know how to tell a true love story -

Interested?
Fantastic-
So let’s begin,

True love, if there is such a thing at all,
is like the thread that makes the cloth
you can’t tease it out-
you can’t extract meaning-
without ending up deeper in the web-
and it always remains-
hidden under layers -

In the end, that’s all you can really say about any
True love story-
They don’t generalize-
They don’t analyze-
They arent found-
They just… happen.

and that’s what makes them “true.”

But what is this coveted “love” -
the emotion?-
the act?-
the mentality?-

Love, is a constant state of illusionment-

A collective agreement amongst humans-
that it, whatever it may be,  can be treated as an excuse
for recklessness, irrationality, and misplaced strife-  

A quid pro quo  between two individuals-
to agree that they are doing something-
anything-
other than mindlessly drudging through life-

Now that is not to say that what love creates is pointless-
I said before, I have felt the embrace of love
Love festers between individuals for so long
it has no option-
but to mould the physical to itself-
and alter our personalities-

Characterized by spontaneity-
by indulgence-
by risk-
to love is the most dangerous experience in existence-
the act of being fully vulnerable with another-
while promising not to hurt them the same-

Love is characterized by vulnerability-
and the constant fear of being hurt-

So you want to know how to write a true love story?
be honest-
dwell not on the “romantic” blindfolds that keep us irrationally seeking our partners-
dwell not on the on the memories of a love that blossomed-
reveal the core of love -

A true love story comes from gut instinct-
A true love story, comes from experience.
A true love story, if truly told, makes the stomach believe

So I said I loved once,
allow me to elaborate-

I too have felt the “butterfly stomach”
- where the insides of the lovestruck turn on their host and manifests the emotional significance of meeting “the one”

I too have spent the day daydreaming...
-Lost in the thought of “the one”, seeking brief breaks from reality in my mind between moments of  utter normalcy

I too have melted into a puddle of emotion….
-lying next to “the one” as we slowly spill more and more of the secrets that bound us as individuals, joining a spirit much larger than ourselves-

I too have felt... invincible-
-to know that I’ve found something more significant than myself. Something that replaces the fear of the future.. and makes it something to look forward to.

Yes, I too have fallen in love.
and I did just that-
I fell.





..And that is my true love story-

I was going to write you something
that embodied our love, some
infinitesimal prose about
your name click-clacking off of
my tongue or your eyes
when you're smiling.

I was going to answer all of
the questions that are silently ticking
inside your mind and scrawl
perfect prepositions across the page
so that your hands might
falter as they traced the corners.

I wanted to tell you about
the tug of your presence or
the way that your fingerprints
feel against mine,

but I'm writing this instead,
listing off the beauty that I feel
seeping into my skin and
it doesn't really make sense
but that's just the way it falls
onto the paper, bit by bit.
sad things, serenade me.

I'm only romanticizing
the madness of it all.
I never asked to be
a ******* poet.