When you cause more tension than relief— that is when I will let you go. 

I'm so fucking sick
Of men
Who convince us
That we only deserve the truth
If we don't react to it 

I feel like you're disappointed
in yourself for
being in love with me
I feel
I feel like
I feel like you're disappointed
in yourself
I feel I feel like you're disappointed 
in yourself
I feel like you're disappointed
in yourself

I unwrapped myself for you.
Trembling fingers
Running over the cracks.
You took them in
With gentle eyes
And I thought you'd loved me anyway.
But you just thought I could be fixed.
And where you saw it would
Hurt the most
You put needles.
Searing hot into my soul
That I had opened for you
That I told you needed water
And tenderness.
But you didn't listen.
Your needles hit like poison.
So I began to wrap myself again.
And you never even noticed.

Those who are closest to us
Can hurt us the most deeply
Can shatter us.

There's so much space here.
It feels infinite.
Like nothing has to be contained.
We expanded.
You've expanded me.
You've unraveled me.

Ever since we've come together,
I feel open.
I feel open, and light, and... loving.
You didn't just add love to my life.
You've multiplied it.

Sometimes I'm afraid
That your well isn't deep enough for me.

Other times that feels utterly ridiculous.

I suppose this is real life
With real ups and downs.

I just can't ever imagine telling you
That I couldn't be there for you.

I make energy for the people I love.
I defy the laws of physics.

I wonder if you'll ever be impressed.

Your hands are water,
Your eyes, the sun,
And I am ready to grow.

My love.
I wish I could describe
The feeling— the relief.
Caught in a current
Rushing, smacking— struggle,
And the sudden
Drop.
Into you.
Soothing.
A first breath.
A realization.
That for you
This was on purpose.

When we met, I was still afraid.
That was August. This is April.
I've learned a new trick.
Every time I speak a fear aloud to you
it disappears.

Your eyes, when you're serious.
Your eyes, when you're sure.
Your eyes, when you've made me laugh.
Your eyes, when you're delighted by something I've said.

The rise and fall,
The valleys and crests,
Soft waves— soothing.

I didn't know love like this existed
before I met you.

I've never felt so jubilantly free,
and yet so surely safe.

My life has changed since I met you.
And I feel so... relieved.

I feel like I was caught in a current,
Or like I was falling,
Or like I'd been drowning,
And you saw me,
And very purposefully,
You caught me.

I need you to be specific.
I need you to chase away
all of my "what if"s.
I need you to tell me.
Over and over and over.
And again.
Don't stop.
Until I remember.

I still exist
Inside my dark spaces

You can leave me here if you want.

But don't assume we're on the path to something more just because I start living up to your expectations.

Don't assume I'm ever going to live up
to your expectations.

Love me as I am.
Inside my dark spaces

I am a soother
I soothe
I calm
I am power uncovered
I am swallower
Throw it at me
I will take it

I am always here
after you leave
I'm always still here

How dare you
Love my poetry
And then call me
Dramatic

You can lay waste to my soul
With the look on your face when I forget my strength
Inside this space where we come together.

You spoke truth into my eyes and ripped open
Every lie I didn't see when it dropped
So carelessly from my tongue into your hands.

I hope that what you meant
when you said I failed to meet
your expectations,
Was that your expectations failed
to encompass me.

I hope that what you meant
when you said that in order to stay with me
you had to lower your standards,
Was that you realized that I am climbing
a different mountain.

You can't level a candle while it is not burning. You have to monitor the flame, make sure the wax doesn't rise too high. Don't give it more than it can handle at once. Be patient. As long as the flame endures, there is hope — certainty, that the result will be achieved.

I think of you now.
Every time I blow out a candle.

How can you not understand
how much I change
every single moment you are near me.

I existed before you.
I will exist after you.
But those two people
would not recognize each other in a mirror.

I am still learning who I am with you.
So are you, I suppose.

I know that I love you.
I know that the course of my life
ends up somewhere better
for having loved you.  

Hold me, my love.
Don't let go.
Until you want to.

It's hard to exist next to her.
To follow her gaze to you.
And see you meet it.

Was our love not meant to move the earth
Did our love not shake the stars
Don't let go
Our existence is a spark of magic
The kind the universe was meant to make
I can feel the fabric of reality around me
Breathe a heavy sigh of relief
When we come together

You are my favorite flower.
I'm not sure how I found you.
I'm not used to having to care for such a beautiful and soft and tender flame.
(As we've heard, I used to live in the desert.)
I have hurt you, and it has startled me.
Your pain feels like my pain, and it's been disorienting.
I'm sorry I'm not getting it.
But I swear your patience is worth it.
This year I'm going to show you.
This year we're going to grow.
You're going to believe me.
You're going to trust me.