Dear future lover,

when we first meet,

in spite of how charming you’ll be

I will immediately friend-zone you.

 

But please don’t give up hope.

 

I have this habit of holding

remarkable things at arm’s length.

So come closer,

I hope you don’t mind

I keep hurricanes in my chest.

 

Dear future lover,

our first date

will consist of curry

and trips to the park after hours,

the ones perched on the shoulders

of mountaintops.

We’ll use swing sets

to steal the stars with

And I’ll tell you,

“When I look up

people swear I’m in prayer”.

 

Dear future lover,

there will be times when I will call you

from Target with existential questions like,

“Why the hell are there 10 different brands of tampons?

They’re all going to the same place!”

And you’ll say,
“Baby, it’s cold outside. Please come home”.

 

when you laugh at me

I’ll say, “God that’s my favorite song”.

 

Dear future lover,

please be as patient as growing

with me.

Understand, I’m not just a poet

I’m a midnight marauder of metaphors,

I have black water for blood.

So please, don’t be jealous

yes, poetry will always be my first love

but I’m going home with you tonight.

 

Dear future lover,

when you say,

“I love you”

for the first time,

I promise I won’t run.

I won’t put the ocean between us

 

I will just ask you,

“Are you really ready for this?”

Are you ready for your ribcage

to be made into a confessional?

 

Imagine me this way:

I am a basin of freshwater eel

you stuck yourself in elbows deep

just to see what an electrical storm

feels like.                              

I am made of fault lines

and obtuse fragments.

I am messy and beautiful

so difficult to love

but I’ve been told:

the best things in life

are worth holding out

both arms for.

 

Dear future lover,

when we finally meet

I will not recognize you by name or face

but by the sky you carry

and I swear

when your lungs expand towards the day

I will cherish the very breath

you steal from morning.