not perfect, not loud.
but the kind of love that lets you be.
they'll see the mess inside you,
and love you anyway, just like the sea.

they won't need you to shrink or perform,
they'll love the way you're soft and torn.
they'll call you beatiful-not just "hot"-
see your heart, and all it's not.

they won't run when things get hard,
or hide when you're left feeling scarred.
they'll listen when you need to speak,
stay when you're strong and when you're weak.

you'll never have to guess or chase,
they'll show up in the darkest place.
they'll be the trust you've always lacked,
the hands that pull you from the black.

they won't complete you-
but with them, you'll feel whole.
someone who sees your soul.

and when they love you,
you'll know it's real.
not because they say it,
but because they feel.

I’ve lived in your heart for a minute now.
And though I love it here,
the faucet leaks,
the door doesn’t shut right
sometimes I have to hold a hand to it
just to lock it back.

When you drink, the space between your ribs
tightens, and your liver expands.

The neighbors aren’t so bad.
They keep to themselves.
When they see me, we talk about
how high the rent is,
how much we don’t get in return for the association fees,
how often we wake up to notices on our door
about late payments
always knocking like the police.

For this reason, I don’t attend any of the meetings.
But I don’t want to leave.

I’ve lived in your heart for a minute now
long enough to sleep through the creaks
when it settles,
long enough to know that home is where my heart is.

Forever isn’t a day here.
It stretches into the way you snore
when you think no one is listening
probably my favorite sound

I think that I know that it was all ment to be.
No,
I believe.
I believe that it was all ment to happen.
That God closed that door because he knew I couldn't,
And that if he was the right one,
Our love would never have failed.
But because it did, I know that it was never love.

I regret the end.
The way we couldn't leave one another without wounds.
The way we made it seems as if all the love we shared was wasted time.

Real love lives in your eyes,
It lives in your smile.
It's even shared through the extension
Of your hand.
Real love is exceptional & phenomenal,
Much like a cassette tape wound up
In emotion.
Real love is realistic & finds a way
to communicate, no matter
How hard the emotion.
Real love travels with you.
Real love lives & breathes the same
Breath as you.
The beat of your heart divine &
Echos mine.
Real love remembers the day
my heart met yours,
Although it's been quite a while,
Real love still remembers your name
& Although cassette tapes are a bit
Outdated.
I still remember staying up all night
Listening to the sound of your
Voice.
No matter the instrument,
Real love finds a way

Hand-written letters are overrated
almost non-existent.
Like love,
as a child, you have longed to experience and even rushed.
You knocked on hearts to know what it felt like but all you had were broken bottles of liquors
that made you dizzy.
Red champagne and Rosé
you learned to immune yourself to
like water and air you breathe in everyday.
Broken dishes on the counter and sink you never washed because you never went home,
because there was nothing to go home to.

*Everything seemed to change when I blew the candle on my 25th birthday cake