So this is love,

This unexpected,

Uninvited guest

Who snuck up so quietly

And then struck

In a rush of realization.

I was stroking your hair

Marveling at how dark

And soft

And cool it was, against my fingers

And suddenly became terrified

Of what would happen

If your hair wasn't mine

To touch

All there was in the world then

Was your hair,

And my hands,

And the smile in your eyes

As if you knew what I had discovered.

I knew in that moment

That you loved me too.

So this is love,

This terrifying,

Energized

Need to be near you.

This knowledge that I've made myself

Vulnerable,

After a lifetime of learning

How to protect myself.

This knowledge that I've given you the

Power

To hurt me more than anyone before,

And the knowledge that for the first time

I don't mind.

All I can care about now

Is when I can next lie beside you,

Curled

Into the side of you

With my head resting

Just below the roughness of your chin,

Both of us basking

In the most blissful silence

We have ever known.