i like the way that you look in the morning, in the afternoon, in the waning hours of the night. i like how you look under the soft lights in my kitchen, how you look when you smile down at me, how you look when you reach out to pull me closer, always closer.
i like the way you look when we are alone, when your eyes are so open to see only me, when your hands find a home in my own-
i like the way that you look when your lips move to form the syllables of my name, when they stretch into that smile, the one that crinkles your eyes up at the corners, my favorite one-
the way that you look when you laugh with your whole body, when you are trying hard to catch your breath, when you are fumbling over your words,
when you are driving late at night,
when you look for something you've lost,
when you are crying,
when you are doing any arbitrary thing,
when you are just breathing, existing, free of worry-
and i like the way that you look when i notice how beautiful you are, when it hits me so hard it hurts. i like the way that you look so startled, so happy, when i tell you, wholeheartedly that i love you.
