poems for you. always for you. ✓

v a l e n t i n e

"a valentine's day gift,"

you say quietly,

not loud enough to pull me

out of the forests in your eyes,

but so softly sweet,

caressing my cheeks,

your voice pulling at me

like a siren's song at sea,

like how the soft wind weaves between

your shifting shades of russet, umber, cocoa trees;

feeling like a dream, resting in those eyes,

exploring the way they could be drawn,

if someone would use a shade of

heart-shaped chocolate or early morning honey—

"a valentine's day gift,"

you repeat,

pressing a paper heart

onto my open palm,

with a glimmer taped onto it—

a ring of golden twisted twine,

with a bead of strawberry pink

woven delicately into it;

making a perfect outline of the sun

with it's smooth, wavering edges,

glimmering gold and more,

with the bead as a planet,

connected but appreciated separate,

or that's the way I see it,

and I feel like I'm wearing a universe

when I slip it on