Flares of light, brighter than stars.
They pierce through the darkness,
Pierce through my weakness,
And lodge deep within my heart.

Like grappling hooks,
They pull me back from the edge,
Remind me of who I am
And who I'm not,
Who I'm sometimes tempted to be.

A lighthouse, a lifeline, an anchor.
A reminder that I'm not alone.
The simple whispered breath of declaration,
Or the sweet goodnight text of appreciation,
I feel safer than I've felt before.

Sticks and stones
Are paper and leaves
When words can break me apart
Or heal the chasm inside of me.
Insecurity shrinking before honesty.

A diary of memories,
Moments of security
And assurance of you,
Inked beneath my skin
Like a radiant tattoo.

MorningSunDirtyDishesDwindlingFridgeOhNowTheKidsAreUpWhere'sMyAss­ignmentDueDamnThatDogWrongShoesRightShoesCan'tForgetTheLunchCarNe­edsGasLaundryLaterProfessorAssignedANOTHERPaperCoffeeBreakMyLibra­ryChairIsTakenWhyOhWhyDidIHaveToGetTheCubicleNextToTHEMStaringAtA­ScreenInsuranceCompanyCalledForgotToCheckTheWaterHeaterGottaPickU­pThatNewCoatForMySonWhyOhWhyIsTheClockSoDamnSlowManMyBackHurtsWhy­Didn'tIGetAStandingDeskIAlmostForgotOfficeHoursFINALLYTimeToClock­OutMomLookAtThisDadSheHitMeDidNotDidTooDAMNThatLaundryIForgotItOf­CourseTheProfessorWouldLeaveFiveMinutesEarlyOhGottaBuyPresentsFor­CousinStaceyOhFUCKDidYouJustSpillGrapeJuiceOverTheNewCarpetYouDid­IShouldn'tSwearAtTheKidsEvenMoreMountainsOfHomeworkNowTheBaby'sSc­reamingTheDishesAreStillDirtyHiHoneyI'mHomeCan'tTalkGottaGetDinne­rReadyLooksLikeALongNightAtTheLibraryAgainAndTheLawnNeedsToBeMowe­dGodI'mSoTired-

"Can I do that for you?"

"Here, let me take care of it."

"Don't worry honey, I took out the trash already."

Silence.
More than silence.
Space. Freedom. The radiant light crossing the distance between the worries pressing your spine and a task checked off by someone else when you weren't looking.

It is an air valve popping loose.
A throat suddenly choked up even as the tension melts away from your muscles. Sacrificial love replacing the items on your to-do list, one by one. Your mind free to think again, to live again.

An oasis in a blinding desert, planted by another person, fertilized with their perception, and watered with their care.

It's not just that a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. It's that you're now weightless.

They have shouldered your burdens with a tender smile.

They have helped you learn to fly again.

It is the absence of air - of space.
A twoness made out of oneness, that slowly becomes oneness again.

It is fire.
The light graze of HEAT along the edges of your suddenly tight knuckles. Every pore in your body falls in love in a vivid blur of life.
It's all-encompassing, like how the lazy sunset spreads and pools its searching golden fingers across every living thing, clinging to the earth.

It is a lazy ripple striating across the surface.
The stress leaving your body in waves as they rub your shoulder. It's an intense, firm awareness of every atom in your being, every breath and shift of your limbs a story waiting to be told.
It's a prison and a release when they hold your hand for the first time.

It's earthy comfort and flickering excitement. Heavy heat and grounding warmth. Lightning nerves turn to steady assurance.

Safety.
Vulnerability.
Contact.
Presence.

I was cold, dark, broken.
Not in body, but in mind.
Light and love were privileges denied to the likes of me.
Blades, bruises, blood, breath...that was all my existence.
I was nothing but a shell, a shadow of death trained to ****.
I was the night.

She was warm, shining, healing.
Her spirit shone like a crimson flower.
Her hair was the glowing sunrise that woke me and the fiery sunset that called me home.
Soft, sweet, scents, snow-white skin beneath rose-red locks.
She was alive, vibrant, trained to love life and save it.
She was the light.

One touch.
One act of compassion, an emotion I didn't even know I had.
One act of forgiveness, a foreign sensation that shivered over my skin.
A whisper.
What's the point of chasing after her?

Protector.
That was what I became.
No longer tasked to take life...
But to save it.
Guard it.
Guard the girl with herb-stained hands and a soft heart.
I was no longer me.
I was me, but also...
Her.

I am the knight.
Her knight.
And I will do anything--
Everything--
To keep her light alive.

Heart: (noun) an *****. a monster. a conductor and storer of blood. emotion. the highest highs and the lowest lows. the pump of the body. the airiness beneath your lungs when his fingers brush yours. the lifeblood of the body. death.