I am safe here,

With your inked hands tracing up and down my spine
And my cheek tucked against your neck,
The fan above us undulating in dark space
A whoosh, whoosh repeating
With each breath you take and

The music lightly plays and plays.

You tap the drumlines against my
Shoulder blades
And hum softly
With your face against my face

And I am safe.

And you tell me
“There are not enough words
To say
How much I love you,”
And it is like my heart falls right
Through my skin
And I say I love you
Again and again and
Again.

I curl up and let you hold me like a precious gem

And until the unseen end

We are safe.

It is only time that will betray
And only time that can wrench you away
And even then I will fight each dying day

And like your seeking hands along my spine
Under blankets streaked by a
Distant moonlight,
I will seek you across the river to the other side
And hold your spirit

Safe

In that

Forever night.

Every night I am here
In this quiet darkness,
Reaching out for you.

And you move into me
Like water
Like moonlight
Like gentle things that never force
Or abuse.

How strong and beautiful
Is your love for me,
As if I have never been used,
Like fire to the wreckage
I have been through,
Steadily erasing these wounds
Like new meadows
Across decimated bones;
The scorched forests of
My soul.

We are building something lush
And beautiful,
With the strength of red woods and
The eternity of the sea,

Something as real as our children's Laughter echoing across the sands
Of this sun-soaked beach.

There is nothing but hope
As far as I can see
And your brave vulnerability;
Your unfaltering belief in me
And all that I am, and was,
And could be.

Wesley, I will love you forever and I
Will hold your heart in my hands,
And I will hold you together

In the same way
That you hold me
Like the rarest treasure.

Every day I can feel

The way that we will

Forever

Heal

Each other.

“I love you.” he said, his voice raspy and emotional.

“You..?” I asked softly, and he nodded yes, slowly.

I kind of moved him away a bit - with a soft stiff-arm - to see him better in the limited light. He looked serious and a little flushed, as if feverish. I examined his face, looking for insincerity or jest but saw none. Perhaps this “love” could use some examination.

“Would you convert to Judaism for me?” I asked

He looked surprised and a little confused. “Are you Jewish?” He asked, hesitantly.

“No.” I answered. He still looked confused.”I’d be proud to be Jewish,” I clarified. “or to have a Jewish boyfriend.”

“Then.. why would I need to convert?” He asked, squinting with concentration.

“We were examining your sumptuous commitment to love.” I said, “forgetaboutit.”

I am not a lover
I cannot be chained down
To someone so soon
I cannot be this earth's moon.

I will follow you
whereto you roam
I will follow you
all the way home
down the road
up the hill
along the river
by the mill
past the tin shed
that old shoe store
till I follow you
and go no more
to an open field
where a path unpaved
with stones unsealed
leads to your grave

I can never promise
          
             to never hurt you

but I can vow

             to never leave you

and live my life in such a way
        
              that you will hurt

to not stay

/Seven start the running
at the shot of a gun
one faulted behind
six continue to run
six kept the running
till another starts to stall
tripping over shoelace
two clambered to a fall
four kept the running
four running strong
come the first hurdle
three running on
three kept the running
till a cramp came along
two kept the running
two going strong
just one look behind
cost one the finish line
one kept the running
past the cheer and cries
one kept the running
only one won the prize