Another...love poem

I write 
a lot of love poems

sometimes I think 
all of them are 

Just love letters
love letters to each other 

I'm going to 
keep writing them 

I'm going to 
serenade the air with them

I'm going to 
fill my life with them

We get to 
love a few other souls

In this time that we are here

Before we 
move on to the unknown

We get to 
learn how to love each other
through learning how to love ourselves

We get to 
learn how to love ourselves
through learning how to love each other

Love lifts us
even if just for a moment
so we 
stand up straight and tall 

and see
what 

magnificently 

beautiful 

creatures

that we 
truly are

And that is something 

that should not be left 

to sit in silence

All we 
really want to do is talk to each other

listen to each other

in as many different languages 

as we 
can learn
and my goal is to be 
multilingual
a shameless polyglot

So I will not be 
sheepish

about how many napkin verses I jot

about the singsong flowers I brought
about the jade polishing 
forked tongued stitching
velvet forging 
verbal battles I have fought

I will 
write them everyday 

Different ones

The same ones
rearranged ones
unchained and untamed ones
out-loud and with-out 
even one ounce of shame ones
secret and only floating on the wind ones
unhinged, 
uncensored,
blushing and shaking
Anais Nin
insanely inflamed ones

Again and again

I will 
not end 
my time here

without making sure

that those whom I love

can be 
sure to 
hear me

I will 
repeat myself
abundantly
redundantly

Without tire 

Without regret

Lest they forget

I will 
endure the eye rolling 
the sarcastic smiles

the self conscious discomfort 

I will 
always remind them

by writing poems

Love poems

Love letters to each other

That will 
eventually  

without doubt

effortlessly

pass through my lips

and my eyes

and my fingertips

All we 
have to do 

to love each other

is talk to each other

Completely

No detail spared

Thoroughly 

As long as it takes

As gently 
as you can imagine

For we 
are only here for a little while

We get to 
love a few other souls

In this time that we are here

For just a little while

So here is 
another poem

Another love poem 

Just another love letter

That I 
wrote for you

etching ink on acetate

Brand New

She always feels brand new

A puzzle I want to solve 

everyday 

again 

and again

I want to get it right

crack the code

find the combination

But then 

every night

I want her to change it

because 

every day

I want to do it all over 

again

I show her my insecurities 

my eccentricities 

the holes in my heart

One by one

layer after layer

deeper than I have ever been 

brave enough to go

And somehow 

she still sees the good

and I know that I am good

But through the details

of conversations

interpretations

mutual navigation 

the smallest interactions

she helps me see

exactly how

I can be

great 

And still I want

I will always want her

It is the 

second 

most powerful force

that I have ever felt 

in my short life 

thus far 

It pushes up inside me

out through every limb

Every fingertip

Every goosebump

Every breath

A feeling that I love

almost more than anything

It is the creative force

It is what drives me

However 

it is an experience 

that is not to be driven

Experience

is not driven 

it is ridden 

You must let the present 

take the wheel

Sit in the passenger seat

beside it

Stand in it

Lay entwined with it

For driving is dangerous

It is a task 

a job 

an accomplishment

If I am too focused 

on the road ahead

like a good driver should be

then I speed past 

what brought me to this space 

in the first place

The way time slowed down

almost stood still

when I looked into her eyes

The way I could feel the air 

all around me 

when I sat next to her

The way my ears warmed 

from the sweet vibrations 

of her voice

The way my mind 

was finally soft 

with my heart 

The involuntary reaction 

to be tender with her 

was so strong 

that it overtook 

me

Uncontrollably 

That strongest gentle

it is the 

first 

most powerful force

I have ever felt

and it always remains

underneath all the rest

It makes me slow down

exactly as I need to

Fast is the part of me 

that I don't want to be

anymore

I want to bask in my slow motion

A movement I am reminded of

every time I swim

in her deep ocean

With every crashing wave

that washes over me

so completely 

she makes me feel

like I am 

brand new

Nothing to make up for

There is no woman 

who walks this earth

that needs to wear makeup. 

There is no skin that is flawed.

No feature out of place.

Shape and contour

are never less than 

only full of grace.

A woman is.  The.  Most.  Magnificent. 

Of all that is created.

Stress and pain 

may sometimes 

be injected

into the surface of the skin

but even then 

kinetic energy 

transforms

gives way

in the end

to the softness that remains.

A tender heart

always lives underneath.

Open arms 

are ready to enfold you.

Gentle eyes wait

on the inside.

A Soul

holds the power

of ocean waves.

The weight of the world 

can wear anyone away

but it is the change

the journey brings

that pulls the loveliness

out within each she.

The strength of a jaw

next to the wisp of an eyelash.

The soft of a cheek

turning into twisting tendons 

that run down a long neck.

Circles of hair

playing peekaboo 

with spirals of ears.

Silent endless depths 

about which 

pupils speak.

Waltzing circles 

that each pair of lips

glides through 

with involuntary choreography. 

How shameful it is.

What a crime is committed 

when the truth of beauty is distorted 

by the thought that

ANY of it

should ever need 

improvement.

To be covered.

Not seen

in the clearest daylight.

In its fullness, 

its authenticity,

its priceless nakedness, 

In the details of the life being lived.

Sorrow wells up at the thought 

of not knowing by heart 

where all of the skin spots have grown 

over the years 

and exactly how the smile lines 

connect with the crows feet 

when my absolutely, stunningly, gorgeous grandmother

sees me 

and tells me

Every 

Single

Time

that I am beautiful.

I wish for every woman

to know

that joy.

I wish for every woman

to feel

that love.

Maybe then

Every woman would know

that there is nothing 

they need 

to make up for.