I am not the first person you loved. You are not the first
person I looked at with a mouthful of forevers. We have both
known loss like the sharp edges of a knife. We have both
lived with lips more scar tissue than skin. Our love came
unannounced in the middle of the night. Our love came when
we’d given up on asking love to come. I think that has to
be part of its miracle. This is how we heal. I will kiss you
like forgiveness. You will hold me like I’m hope. Our arms
will bandage and we will press promises between us like
flowers in a book. I will write sonnets to the salt of sweat
on your skin. I will write novels to the scar of your nose. I
will write a dictionary of all the words I have used trying
to describe the way it feels to have finally, finally found
you. And I will not be afraid of your scars. I know sometimes
it’s still hard to let me see you in all your cracked
perfection, but please know: whether it’s the days you burn
more brilliant than the sun or the nights you collapse into
my lap your body broken into a thousand questions, you are
the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I will love you
when you are a still day. I will love you when you are a
hurricane.
~ Clementine von Radics, “Mouthful of
Forever”