Atticus

As he took her hand

he gave her

all she had been

waiting for—

a shiver

down her spine.

Love

is diving headfirst

into someone else’s confusion

and finding

that it all makes sense

Love

could

be

labeled

poison

and we’d

drink

it

anyways

I JUST NEED

YOU

AND

SOME

SUNSETS

My sweet darling,

all these tears,

this hurt,

the pain in your heart,

do not fight it anymore,

it is a gift, you see, to feel this much

For whatever you become,

or don’t,

it is far too late,

I love you already,

long before

we ever meet.

To love you is not my promise

but my fate—

to burn for you

until I can burn no more.

When I saw you first, it took

every ounce of me not to kiss you.

When I saw you laugh, it took

every ounce of me not to love you.

And when I saw your soul, it took every ounce of me.

Does the sun promise to shine?

No, but it will—

even behind the darkest clouds,

and no promise

will make it shine longer or brighter

for that is its fate,

to burn until it can burn no more.

To love you is not my promise

but my fate—

to burn for you

until I can burn no more.

Obsession is not love,

infatuation is not love,

when someone ignores you

or treats you poorly, carelessly,

or with indifference

that’s not love—

that’s a lack of love,

for yourself, for trying to fill

your missing pieces with theirs

but when someone is whole

and you are whole

and you act in kindness and benevolence, vulnerability

through strength,

love becomes an exchange

with another person—

and that is

its truest form.