collection I
the things I can only say in ink
“I can say your name without my ribs contracting.”— Between Cocoon and Flight
love
how quietly
you arrived
no announcement
no warning
just a door
i didn't know
was a door
until you were through it
because i had made
a life
of careful things
of exits kept clear
and you asked
for none of it
you only stayed
until staying was ordinary
i had other words
ready
smaller ones
safer ones
i meant to hand you
fondness
warmth
something i could take back
but you looked at me
like there was time
and the small words
fell away
and what was left
was the one
i had spent a life
learning not to say
love
and once it was said
it could not
be unsaid
and i found
i did not
want it back