The root of all poems is this: I love you,
to the point I make myself sick with it,
your name flows through my veins.
Words may never capture the light in my
eyes when my mouth speaks your name,
when I’m acknowledged as yours in passing.
No remedy will cure the fever that keeps
me burning up, every moment of the day,
every moment of my life since I’m yours.
The root of all my problems is this: the sea.
She who is fiery and unexpected, she who
keeps me apart from the one I long for.
If not for Her, my feet would be tinted red;
I would walk until the shoes fell off, until
my legs gave out to catch your glimpse.
Stubborn little weak thing I am, no better
than he who captured a beautiful woman,
started a war, and did not regret it once.
Not when the city fell and his beloved was
pried from his arms. Blade to his throat,
he never regretted it a single thing he did.
Love destroyed Troy, killed all its citizens,
and salted the land so it would not grow.
Love; fiery and angry, soft and lustful.
The root of my hope is this: to hold you,
to look at your face every morning, for
as long as I walk on this earth. To love you.
Love killed Troy, centuries before you
or me wailed in an ER and came alive.
It is love what keeps me alive, despite all.
It is because I love you that I witness the sunrise
every day. It is for you that my cheeks get stained
red and my hands tremble with anticipation.
It is because of you that I wonder, staring at the
moon, who would ever think I could love this deeply?
What have you done to me to make me lose sleep?
How is it possible to love someone who’s far away?
How can I long for their touch, if they never touched me?
I love you, and it keeps me alive. It killed Troy,
but it whispers hope in my heart on those nights
where the weight of the world sits on my chest.
The root of my insecurities is this: I love you.
The depth of my want embarrass me. It’s a crime,
and you’re the one sentenced to my affection.
My hands cannot have you, so they despise
everyone that can lays a finger upon you.
They call for you, and you do not come.
My ears want to hear your voice call out to me,
the phone stays silent, so they despise everyone
that takes my name without your same vibrato.
My heart is embarrassed to ask anything of you,
for its already too much that you saw me, really
saw me, and decided you still wanted me.
The root of my love is ineffable. It cannot be
explained in words. It has no end or beginning.
I have loved you. I love you. I will love you.
Until the page turns yellow,
until the sea becomes land, until I turn to dust. I love you.