Our Naked Souls Read online

  OUR NAKED SOULS

  Copyright © 2020 by Justin Wetch. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

  Andrews McMeel Publishing

  a division of Andrews McMeel Universal

  1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

  www.andrewsmcmeel.com

  ISBN: 978-1-5248-6523-8

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2020936658

  Original design and cover by Justin Wetch

  Cover illustrations © Shutterstock

  Illustrator: Travis Kalani

  Editor: Kevin Kotur

  Production Editor: David Shaw

  Production Manager: Cliff Koehler

  Digital Production: Kristen Minter

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  Andrews McMeel books are available at quantity discounts with bulk purchase for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail the Andrews McMeel Publishing Special Sales Department: [email protected].

  Dedicated to the woman who showed me just how beautiful love can be.

  Contents

  Naked Souls

  Broken Hearts

  Weary Spirits

  Cosmic Minds

  About the Illustrator

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Naked

  Souls

  Defying Gravity

  We could reach the skies

  Together

  If we only took the chance.

  We could fly among the clouds

  And touch the first rays

  Of the rising sun.

  We could fly forever up there

  And never come back down

  Defying gravity forever

  An eternal dance transcending time.

  Clovers

  Love is found

  By walking through

  A vast field

  Of clovers

  Until you find

  The one

  With four leaves.

  You make me feel

  As lucky as can be.

  Strength

  The way you look at me

  Gives me the strength

  To fight through life

  Far beyond what I ever thought possible.

  You make me brave

  You give me the strength

  To keep going.

  Forgotten How to Fly

  To seek to control

  The ones you love

  Is a tragedy born

  From the ashes of beauty;

  Your love, once beautiful, once free

  Is like a caged bird

  Who has forgotten

  How to fly

  Do not destroy what you love

  By trying to own it.

  Day One

  Where others told me

  I was being unrealistic

  Or laughed when I shared

  My dreams,

  You were the first

  To take me seriously,

  The only one

  Who believed in my dreams.

  You showed me love

  Before anyone else

  Thought anything of me.

  I owe you everything.

  Back to You

  You have always been the one

  I come back to

  We stray from each other

  Every now and again

  But each time

  We end up back here

  I will always come

  Back to you

  You have always been the one

  I wait for

  Ping Pong

  We were in and out of love

  With each other

  At different times

  Never ready

  To make something of us.

  You Alone

  With you

  I hold back nothing.

  I whisper to you

  In my innermost voice

  The voice of my truest self

  Surrounded by the mighty walls

  I have spent so long building

  To keep everyone else out.

  You are the only one

  Who truly knows me.

  You are the only one

  I can truly be myself with.

  Love Is Like Magic

  Love is like magic:

  It is limitless

  And anything is possible

  If you believe in it.

  It’s also like magic

  In that the moment

  You start to question it

  To analyze it

  To see how it works

  It falls apart . . .

  Love demands unshakable faith;

  The more you believe in it

  Without hesitation or vacillation

  The more

  Love

  Transcends

  Possibility.

  The Tree of Life

  Love is like a tree

  Which, when planted on good soil

  With rain and sunshine

  Can live for hundreds of years.

  But uproot the tree

  And watch it shrivel away—

  This is the natural tendency

  Of the universe

  And love is not immune;

  Love, over time, decays to hate

  If proper care is not taken

  To make sure it thrives.

  The deepest rewards of love

  Cannot be reached

  If sheer passion

  Is not met

  With hard work

  And complete dedication.

  The Eternity Between the Moments

  Do you know that time

  Stretches for an eternity

  Between our moments

  Of perception?

  You can feel it

  When you’re in love

  Or suffering heartbreak,

  When you’re amazed

  By beauty

  Or saddened

  By suffering.

  I could stay

  In this moment

  With you

  Forever.

  Fade Away

  I fade away without your love

  My colors dim and darken

  I fall for you more every day

  Without a hint of caution

  Act II

  Fairy tales teach you

  That love is the end

  Of a story,

  That somehow

  Lovers cross the horizon

  Into the sunset

  And everything is perfect forever.

  No, love is the middle

  Of a story.

  It isn’t a stasis

  Of permanent starstruck eyes

  And adoring hearts.

  Love is the will

  Of two people

  To fight for the good

  Between them

  Even when it isn’t easy.

  Love is valuable

  Not because it is won

  But because

  It is fought for.

  A Love Like Yours

  I hav
e never felt a love like yours,

  A love that could replace the sun,

  A love that brightens my life

  And makes me feel whole.

  The silhouette of you

  Against the cresting sun—

  Somehow I knew, in that moment

  That this is what love

  Was always meant to look like.

  Eloquent

  Eloquent writers

  Say more with less,

  And you’re the most

  Eloquent of all.

  You showed me an infinite love

  Without a single word.

  With only your eyes

  You created a paradise.

  Lying in Bed

  The best thing in life

  Is lying in bed with her

  After a long day

  Finding peace

  In each other.

  In that moment

  Everything is still

  Everything is okay.

  The world stands still

  As we lie together

  Breathing warm hues of adoration

  Eyes wide and full of wonder

  For every time

  Feels like the first.

  I wouldn’t trade

  Even one

  Of these many moments

  For anything in the world.

  There is nothing better

  Than being so close

  To the woman I love.

  All the Small Pieces

  I want to find

  All the small pieces

  Of my heart

  That I have given away

  In these many years.

  I want to take them back

  At any cost

  So that I have more of myself

  To give you.

  Transcendence

  When I can’t see the good

  In life

  You shine

  And show me

  That true beauty still exists

  And not all is darkness

  You show me

  That life can be more

  Than mundane routines

  You show me

  How to embrace the sunlight

  And feel the wind on my face

  You show me

  Transcendence.

  We Found Each Other

  We found each other in the night

  Not looking for love

  Just needing to get away

  We found each other by accident

  And our love grew as if by magic

  Where no one believed it could

  Promise Me

  I want to give you everything;

  I want to throw myself into this

  With everything I have,

  But understand I’ve been hurt before

  And it’s not so easy for me.

  So just promise me you mean it

  When you tell me you love me.

  Promise me you’ll tell the truth

  And not let me fall hard

  If you’re not ready to fall with me.

  Completely

  My greatest sorrow

  Is that I will never be able to love her

  As perfectly

  As she deserves to be loved.

  She loves my flaws

  More beautifully

  Than anyone else

  Has loved

  The best parts of me.

  But if I can just reflect

  Just a little bit

  Of her,

  Our love could light up

  The universe.

  Lucky One

  The magical thing about us

  Is that I think I’m the lucky one

  To have you

  And you think you’re the lucky one

  To have me.

  We would both do anything

  To keep each other.

  Reincarnation

  I like to think

  That if reincarnation is real

  We would still recognize each other

  In our new forms.

  I would know your soul anywhere

  And would travel any distance

  To reunite with you.

  Who knows how many times

  We already have?

  Night

  Flowers bloom in the night,

  Glowing with an air of mystery

  Somehow, gentle luminescence glows

  Under the insanity of moonlight.

  So too gleams the vulnerable seed

  That grows between our clasped hands.

  Drink deeply from this moment;

  Let its infinity grace your soul

  And promise me

  You will hold a piece of it

  Even when the night

  Is over.

  3:00 a.m.

  I will never forget those nights

  We spent

  Just the two of us

  Talking until three in the morning

  Despite work

  The next day

  It was worth it

  To live those moments

  With you

  Shades of Roses

  With you

  Life is shades of roses;

  It glitters with gold

  And shimmers with diamonds.

  With you

  The world seems at peace:

  A glorious serenity

  Sculpted from calamity.

  Memory

  Though I’ll travel far

  I will never forget you.

  Though I’ll live many years

  Your memory will stay with me.

  And though we might love others

  Nothing could compare

  To loving you.

  My Love

  When I am old, my love

  And you are missing from our bed

  And I make breakfast for one

  Breathing in sorrow with the new day

  When I am old, my love

  And nothing tastes as sweet

  Without you there with me

  To love the world by my side

  Will the bird songs

  Still ring with glorious melody?

  Will the smell of coffee

  Still stir my soul to adventure?

  When I am old, my love

  Living on without you

  I am not sure I will keep living

  Though my heart still pumps blood.

  For without you, my love

  Life cannot truly go on

  Just as the days would cease

  Were the sun plucked from the sky.

  Elevate

  You do not require the extraordinary

  To make things special.

  You take the simplest things

  And somehow elevate them.

  You take the ordinary in life

  And turn it into magic.

  My Heart in Your Hands

  My heart beats in your hands—

  Please be careful.

  I’m defenseless against you

  Like no one else—

  Please don’t stab me

  In the back.

  I trust you

  Like no one else—

  Please don’t take advantage.

  I’m loyal to you

  Like no one else—

  Please don’t make me

  Look a fool.

  I love you

  Like no one else.

  P
lease

  Don’t break me.

  A Song for Just the Two of Us

  Come with me

  Up that winding road

  Up to the mountains.

  Let’s lose ourselves

  And forget our cares

  If only for a day.

  I’ll bring my guitar

  And you’ll sing along

  A song for just the two of us.

  This Simple Love

  Loving you

  Was not something I expected

  But a feeling that rose up

  From deep within my soul

  And overtook me

  Like an ocean wave.

  Swept up in this,

  Let the ocean take us

  Where it may.

  All we need is each other,

  All we need

  Is this simple love.

  Not Until

  I will never run out

  Of things to say about you;

  My love for you

  Springs in boundless eternity.

  It will never falter

  Nor weaken,

  Not until the sun

  Has run out of rays,

  Not until the ocean

  Has dried to a desert,

  Not until the light

  Has gone from my eyes.

  We Never Fight

  A perfect relationship

  Is not one

  Without conflict.

  It is

  Knowing how to deal

  With conflict

  In a mature and healthy way.

  C43H66N12O12S2

  Just because a sunrise

  Can be described

  As the physics

  Of our solar system

  Causing the rotation of the earth

  To make visible

  The object around which it revolves

  Doesn’t change the fact

  That a sunrise is beautiful.

  In the same way

  Just because something as beautiful

  As love

  Can be described as the influence of chemicals

  In the brain

  —a consequence of evolution—

  Does not mean that’s all there is to it.

  Those who would deride love

  As a mere chemical reaction

  May be able to describe love

  But will never understand it

  Because the magic of being human

  Is to synthesize transcendence

  From the ordinary.

  Jamais Vu

  She turned monotony into novelty