My Thoughts In Rhyme and Rhythm

TWENTY THREE

in our beginning,
we were strangers on a park bench.
only a curious glance or two
and the book you were reading
between us.

and the air smelled like rain
but i didn't have an umbrella
so we stood shoulder to shoulder
underneath yours.

you walked me home
a few blocks out of your way.
you smiled and said it was no trouble.
and you had insisted.

i watched you through my window pane
you walked away, through the rain
and i knew we'd have to be
together again.

in our middle,
i found you a week later
in the corner of a dusty bookstore.
and you waved.

and you made me laugh
and blush and smile and swoon.
with only a joke and a wink or two,
i melted.

your hair was messy.
i tried to fix it for you
and i only made it worse,
but you loved it.

you picked me up
carried me to the fantasy section.
and kissed me behind the mysteries.
we became poetry.

in our end,
my head was on your chest
i felt your heart beating
but, it felt different.
it wasn't for me
anymore.

you had tears in your eyes
when i told you how i felt.
we held each other close;
but fires die.

you retold the story to me
of the day we met in the rain
and how the love you felt then
could not fade.

i wanted to believe you
but you saw the doubt in my eyes
so you took me to the bookstore
and kissed me.

you asked me if i remembered
hiding behind the mysteries
if i remembered the love that bloomed
in between shelves.

and i looked at you,
face blotchy and red,
eyes swollen and wet,
and grinned.

because of course i remembered
our beginning
and our middle
i just didn't think you
remembered them too

i looked at you,
whole again and warm inside,
and told you i'd be by your side
until the end of our time.

i'm glad you love me too.