uneven breathing like a skipping record, missing all the right beats.
a heart pounding out of my chest, resembling a clock ticking 5x too quick.
legs shaking like weak branches quivering off the tree in the middle of a windstorm.
you tell me to calm down.
relax.
breathe.
usually this is the part of the story where i sob harder,
tossing my breath away,
unable to get it back under control;
letting my defiant heart increase the tempo to speeds i didn't know were possible.
but this time
its different.
everything
s l o w s
down.
breathing is beginning to feel easy once again.
my mind is full of crashing waves that won't settle
until suddenly
your voice courses through my brain.
your words echo through me, making everything still
they ripple through the rest of my body
the same way water does after a pebble is thrown in.
all at once everything is okay.
the only thing that matters is you.
your quickened heartbeat when i grab your hand.
your soft eyes looking down at me.
your hand running through my hair,
while the other wraps around me.
you use your body like a shield,
creating some sort of protective barrier
between me and the rest of the world.
this is when i think to myself
there's nowhere i would rather be.
this is when i think to myself
i am safe here
this is when i think to myself
t h i s f e e l s l i k e h o m e.
