Applebutton.

Our bellies are full with the pride we've swallowed
and our eyes are burning
because sleep is miles away,
the sun is finding its way back into the night
And I love you.
My lungs catch breaths between words,
stealing air from my mouth
so that they may keep you there.
and I am speechless.
Like first kiss breathless.
Like shaking fingers against your skin, reckless.
I cannot hold your words long enough,
they are falling against my brain like rainstorms.
Like rainstorms I want to dance with you,
catch you on my lips,
and savor the caress of life you have given me.

In the moonlight,
we are silly dancers on silly toes,
graceful.
rootless tress in the wind,
darkness has never been quite so illuminated.
My lashes are squinting together
in your light,
like skin lines against skin
at the corners of my mouth
pulling around my teeth
indefinitely.

In my hands,
yours are intertwined
and in this moment
things are beautiful.
You are beautiful
despite the rotten you claim.
I want to cradle you in blankets of arms
and show you that never has anything
compared to you.
Skipping steps and tongue strides,
we are counting on limbs
our imperfections,
running out of space.
But somehow none of this matters,
because at some point between
our attempts at defining here and there,
we discovered that we exist
somewhere.
That somewhere exceeds time and space
and nestles between your Adam's apple
and my bellybutton.

So we will send our voices across
power lines,
speaking in riddles
like confused sounds with meaning somewhere.
like falling apart and only half understanding.
We are existing on ends of humanity,
creating motion surpassing that of many.
And I love you.
Like friendships too hard to let go of.
Like somewhere is my safe place.
Here and there,
we battle our demons,
count our scars,
and tally up our losses.
Hands and fingers,
skin and bone,
we stand against cave walls,
our shadows curved to fit the sketching of numbers
defining the skeletons of our past.
And here we are innocent.
We are tracing the lines of where we used to be,
And redefining where it is we thought we were headed.
And in this moment,
We are beautiful.
Like children fingers against canvas
Like bare toes against pavement,
we are discovering.
Despite our old souls,
We are tireless.
We are embracing what is to come,
with minds forgetting,
that once upon a time
we never knew each other.
That there was a time
When my ribcage swelled
And yours was not there to catch it.


Well, love,
I am asking you to catch it.
Catch me in your lover’s palm
And never let me go
because too many times I have
fallen far from fate
running away from anything
beautiful.
Too many times
I have settled for something
Less than applebutton.
So Adam’s Apple,
rest still against my belly,
await the rays
before our battles begin again,
and know that
here is our somewhere.