Love Begins With The Self That Can Stay

when I first heard your name
I was barely breathing under ash

six months gone dark

death in one hand
a dead love in the other

my life had split open
and I had stopped pretending
I knew how to gather it back

then someone said
we should meet

and something in me
turned toward you

wanting
before I had touched you

lit
before I knew your face

undone
before I knew your gaze

aching
before I knew your touch

before I knew
how far I would have to travel
to stand in front of you

your name hit my body
like a live wire

I was afraid

I had never crossed
that much sky alone

never gone
that far from ruin
toward a yes
my soul recognized
before my mind
could speak

but the pull towards you
had already become unbearable

so I bought the ticket

when I arrived
you met me
where few can

in the voltage

you knew I loved charge

the kind that makes
ordinary life
feel badly wired

the kind that licks
up the spine

turns a glance
into a dare