Our Naked Souls Read online

  Déjà vu into jamais vu

  She made everything new

  And nothing felt like it used to.

  The simplest things took on new life

  Grocery shopping felt like an adventure

  Getting coffee was drinking the cosmos at night

  And routines became vibrant pleasures.

  She kissed me in the rain

  As the city lights shone

  I felt a warmth through my veins

  As she painted night into glorious dawn.

  With fresh eyes I looked at living

  She effortlessly changed my point of view

  Dear god, let me forever keep loving

  La femme qui rend tout jamais vu.

  Stars Align

  What did the night’s sky look like

  At the moment of my first breath?

  What did it look like

  At the moment of yours?

  I like to think

  They were aligned perfectly

  And perhaps if you combined them

  Some cosmic echo of fate would be spelled out

  In the depths of that abyss

  And perhaps the future mapped already

  In that ephemeral ink.

  The night we met, our first words,

  The moment I fell in love

  With the details of your eyes,

  Our first kiss,

  The ever-closer intertwining

  Of our souls,

  And moments we haven’t yet seen.

  I don’t know if the stars aligned

  To bring us together.

  All I know, my dear

  Is that you make me feel

  So damn lucky.

  Lingua Franca

  We must build a bridge

  Between our love languages

  So that I can speak enough of yours

  And you enough of mine.

  Understand that no two people

  Perceive love exactly the same;

  There are as many dialects of love

  As there are perceptions of reality.

  Look to the Stars

  Look to the stars.

  Incomprehensible vastness.

  This great impossibility

  Exists within you too,

  In the space between your atoms.

  You should look at yourself

  With the same wonder

  With which you look at the stars;

  You, my love, are a miracle.

  Accident

  I refuse to believe that something as perfect

  As the meeting of our souls

  Could have happened

  By accident.

  Drive with Me

  Drive with me.

  Let’s sing

  At the top of our lungs

  To songs we don’t really know

  Because every mistake

  I make with you

  Is beautiful.

  Rest your head on my shoulder

  And sleep through the sights

  Like you sleep through movies

  Because you’re more beautiful

  Falling asleep

  Than the earth is

  Dozing off at sunset.

  Every single moment with you

  Feels perfect

  And the best of moments without you

  Are lacking.

  Drive with me

  On to our next adventure

  Because anything with you

  Is perfect.

  Brightest Star

  Drive outside the city

  In the midst of night.

  Find a place

  Where the stars

  Shine with clarity.

  Pick one out

  And stare at it;

  Watch as the stars around it

  Grow dimmer

  And all else

  Becomes darkness.

  This is what love

  Is supposed to feel like;

  Find the star

  That looks brightest

  To your soul

  And never lose sight of it.

  Aflame

  Do not settle for someone

  Whose soul is not aflame

  With the music that moves you,

  Eager to dance

  In the same fire

  That makes you feel

  Alive.

  Magic for the True Believer

  The high tide

  Wants to throw us

  Against the rocks

  And break us apart.

  Love is a magic spell:

  As long as we keep

  Our eyes on each other

  We’ll never drown.

  As long as we both believe

  We can defy the odds

  Somehow it becomes so;

  Love is magic for the true believers.

  Ourselves

  Find someone who makes you

  More and more yourself

  Building you up

  And erasing the scars

  Where others had hurt you before.

  I can be myself around you

  And you yourself around me;

  I think there’s something beautiful

  In that.

  Fluorescent Infinity

  Dip your fingers into the everlasting

  Fluorescence.

  Do not dare tell me

  Magic does not exist

  When I can feel it so strongly

  Between us now.

  But the moment the sunrise hits,

  The harsh sobriety of the daylight hours

  Lays waste to the infinite potential

  Of the midnight hour.

  We hold it all at bay,

  God and goddess

  Of our own infinity

  Where everything we touch

  Glows against the vast darkness.

  We have infinite potential

  In this moment—anything is possible

  In this world we have created

  Together.

  In our world the sun

  Never has

  To rise.

  My Heart Dreams of You

  My heart never stopped dreaming of you

  Even when all seemed lost.

  Part of me never stopped belonging to you;

  I don’t think I could take it back if I tried.

  My heart dreams of you

  When I stare off into space

  And lose track of time.

  In the still, quiet moments

  When the night is silent

  And the air devoid of the slightest whisper,

  In these quiet moments

  Suddenly I find my heart

  Drifting off to places

  I had thought long abandoned.

  What greater pain would be incurred:

  To never wake up, having you only in fantasy,

  Or to know for certain that this dream is a lie

  Never to become reality?

  Strands of Your Hair

  I daydream about making you laugh,

  Making your problems seem less daunting,

  Cherishing the moments

  As they float by in slow motion

  And rush by in a blurry cascade

  All at once.

  I daydream about the small moments,

  The way it would feel

  When you leaned your head

  Onto my shoulder

  And I put my arm

  Ar
ound your waist.

  I think about how

  I would find

  Strands of your hair

  In a shirt you had borrowed

  And think fondly

  About you

  Every time.

  Nothing but You and Me

  Take my hand,

  Lead me gently into oblivion;

  You convince me that anything is possible,

  That life can be more than ordinary.

  You give me hope.

  You fuel the fire deep down in my soul.

  I look into your eyes

  And for once it seems

  That one day it will all make sense

  And all of the struggle and pain

  Will one day fade away,

  Leaving nothing in the entire universe

  But you and me.

  There is beauty over the horizon,

  A promise of harmony and joy;

  To kiss you

  Is to feel heaven

  Touching earth.

  When we are together

  It feels as if there is nothing

  But you and me

  In the entire universe.

  Our Naked Souls

  My soul

  Unfolded before you

  Like a flower’s petals.

  Naked and unhidden,

  I kept nothing from you.

  And though I was afraid

  You would think less of me,

  I held nothing back.

  It was the feeling of light

  Hitting places

  Once withered by darkness.

  You held me gently

  As I was vulnerable.

  You looked at my flaws

  And saw beauty

  Where I only saw defects.

  We stood there together,

  Our naked souls

  Affirming an eternal love.

  Nothing hidden, all laid bare—

  Together, you and I

  Are finally free.

  Certain

  I will wait

  As long as it takes

  For our paths

  To cross

  In just the right way.

  I will wait

  With unrelenting certainty

  That you are the one,

  The other half of me.

  I am certain

  That we

  Are meant

  For each other.

  The Chessboard

  I’ve been hurt before.

  I’ve put my heart

  In careless hands

  And paid for it.

  I’m defensive.

  I learned my lesson

  Never to trust too much

  Or else be hurt again.

  I’m paranoid.

  I feel like I need to be

  One step ahead

  Of everyone else

  Or I won’t be ready

  When betrayal

  Inevitably comes.

  I’m afraid

  That if I don’t play the game

  Better than anyone else

  Then I’ll lose—

  Checkmate.

  But she would never do that

  To me.

  Because she’s not my opponent;

  She’s on my side.

  For the first time

  I’m not alone

  Against the world

  And I need

  To remember that.

  Complacency

  It’s important not to get complacent.

  Once we’ve been happy for a long while,

  It’s easy to see tiny things as issues

  That we would’ve never cared about before.

  We forget that we are loved

  And we moan about mole-hills

  From the peaks of mountains.

  It’s all too easy

  To get tunnel vision

  And lose the bigger picture.

  Hold on tightly to your remembrance

  Of the incomparable gift of love;

  Never forget how your joy

  Has bloomed from the roots of sorrow

  Under the nourishment of her light—

  Love is remembering what you have.

  Eternal

  When time has run its course

  And all the symphonies,

  All the great paintings,

  And all the films

  Have been created

  And worn down to dust,

  Still our love will remain

  Etched in the cosmos

  As if by the hand of god.

  Kintsugi Heart

  Every past heartbreak

  Was just a lesson

  Teaching me how to love you better.

  Instead of hiding our broken hearts,

  Let us fill the cracks with gold

  And put them on display for all to see.

  Do not conceal the pain

  That made you who you are today—

  Wear it proudly.

  Find someone

  Who looks at the places

  Your heart has been broken

  And sees a place to love you better,

  Sees beauty where others see flaws.

  Oasis

  You were my oasis

  In the desert.

  When I felt hopeless

  You made me whole.

  Yourself

  I love the way

  You are yourself

  So effortlessly

  With no need

  To pretend

  Or hold back.

  You rise like the sun

  Full of confidence,

  Certain of your place

  In the universe,

  And unafraid of the opinions

  Of others.

  Wasted Moments

  I must live with the remorse

  Of every moment

  I did not spend kissing your lips

  For it was all wasted time.

  Experiences are meant

  To be shared,

  And life not

  Too carefully planned.

  I wish I’d

  Thrown caution to the wind,

  Giving you all I had,

  Building palaces from dirt mounds.

  Conversations, souls in abandon

  Yearning to be free,

  Tugging at the chains of conformity,

  Deciding our fates for ourselves.

  Chapter Two

  Broken

  Hearts

  Foreboding

  Though we thought it would last forever

  It seems our hearts had other plans.

  They began to withdraw from one another

  Far before we did.

  The Forest

  Do you feel the moss under your hands?

  Do you smell the forest air?

  Do you see the sun through the trees

  And hear the birds singing?

  We have met here many times

  In my mind:

  The forest behind that old house

  Where I escaped to so often.

  Do you remember this place?

  We have been here together, you know,

  More times than I can count.

  This is where I keep my love for you.

  This is where I keep you contained,

  A fantasy that can never come true.

  This is where I feel most free.

  This is the we
ll of unmade memories.

  The Worst Lie

  The worst lie

  Our culture teaches us

  Is that romantic love

  Is the answer

  To all of life’s problems,

  As if it is some magic spell

  That suddenly transforms life

  Into a rose-colored wonderland

  Without struggle or pain.

  The Same Old Path

  These days my mind wanders

  Toward you

  Far more often

  Than I would like.

  I can’t stop thinking about you;

  You take up space

  I should be using

  For more pressing matters.

  I retread the same path

  As if visiting the same place

  Over and over again

  Could lead to a different result.

  Cast Off the Remnants

  Everything was in slow motion

  As I unclenched my hand

  And released yours from my grasp.

  We were alone, floating in the middle

  Of a dark chasm.

  Your face recoiled

  As you realized

  You could no longer use me.

  Instantly a weight lifted from my chest

  And I was free

  As I cast off the remnants

  Of the person

  You forced me to become.

  Finally I burst from my shell,

  On the verge of death,

  Gasping for air.

  I am free, free

  Reaching for the heavens.

  I am free, free

  Taking my life

  Back into my hands.

  The Thought of Losing You

  I struggle with the thought of losing you.

  What would I be

  Without you?

  I want to hold you tight

  And cherish the feeling of you

  And your warmth next to me.

  But I know I can’t hold on too tightly

  Because that’s how flames are smothered

  And that’s how romance dies.

  Before, it was only a dream

  That our love could blossom

  Into something special.

  But now that my dream has come true

  Fear of loss grips me.

  I have to accept that I can’t control life

  And I must live in the moment,

  Cherishing your every detail

  While I still have you.

  For as long as I get to love you

  I will love you with all that I am.

  Sunlight

  Addicted

  To the idea

  Of love,