Love.
Such a sweet word
but it takes more than pretty words.
It’s respect.
Will you respect my “no”
without question
without calculated prodding?
It’s accepting my truth—
even if it’s not your own.
It’s a steady hand when everything else seems so,
uncertain.
It’s a commitment to grow together
and
it’s a promise to reconnect when our paths diverge.
It’s disagreeing,
not to prove a point,
but to make each other stronger.
It’s a pact to learn when to speak
and
when it’s best to listen in silence.
It’s a lifelong learning experience.
It’s an assurance of steamy, intertwined summer days
and
frigid, distant winter nights.
It’s a vow to work through
and
to not give up.
It’s scars, bumps, and bruises of the past
come to light
and
in that light,
it’s reaching out
it’s embracing those things that I don’t think are beautiful
and
it’s not always all of these things all at once.
Caia Rose 