Love is…

Love is what stays in your heart -

what warms you even on the darkest nights

of the coldest winters.

Love is…

The way he holds you,

the sharp little gasp when your frozen feet find his.

The scent of his forehead as you kiss him goodnight.

The laughter at how lame your jokes are - both of yours.

The wake-up calls.

The fights,

and the soft, stumbling apologies that come after.

It’s the arguments over whose turn it is

to turn off the lights,

or pick the movie.

It’s the late-night drives.

The nights that blur into mornings.

The joy, the ache,

the incredible mess of feelings

that can only come

from something so simple and vast:

Love.

Pause

She reached out to the swirling world

from within hers;

arms outstretched,

trying, once again,

to hold on to something

that could slow it all down.

She had grown tired..

of the blurry faces,

the hushed voices,

the laughter,

the colours,

the noise that rose and folded into itself.

It was all right there,

so vividly alive,

but she couldn’t quite step into it.

Not yet.

All she wanted

was to stop time;

just for a little while..

long enough

to be still,

to be quiet,

to have enough

for herself.