the prayer ...

lying on top of you
my chest pressing against yours
i float in your breath and listen to you sleep 

one of your hands lost in 

and tangled up in 

my overflowing hair 

your other hand tangled up with mine

our fingers laced up quietly together

and resting on my tattooed hip 

i lay my head down and feel the rhythm of your heart beating against my throat

and i hear your breathing 

warm and noisy over my ear

i remain still and silent 

inhaling the smell of you

exhaling love for you 

and i cannot sleep

not because of the noise

and not because of our body heat

but because i don't want to miss the moment ...

the prayer ...

the gratitude ...

YOU.

Love never leaves us

Love and relationship are not the same thing. 

relationships often fail. 

Love does not. 

relationships die sometimes quick
sometimes slow
deaths. 

Love does not die. 

people confuse all kinds of things with Love. 

Love is not struggling to make something work when it truly doesn't. 

relationships require conditions and compromise, Love does neither.  

Love is not fear and Love is not pride. 

Love is something entirely different. 

a relationship that lasts is not necessarily a relationship that lives. 

Love lasts. 

Love lives. 

Love runs deeper than any relationship ever could or ever will. 

because Love is not a human thing. 

Love is a spirit thing. 

a life thing. 

an everlasting thing.  

being with reluctance

"because you are worthy

you are worthy

you are worthy

of more

than the truth that broke you ..."

click the link below to read my article on elephant journal:

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/06/what-reluctance-feels-like/

it might be you or it might be someone you know ... experiencing it now, having experienced it before, or still yet to experience it in the future.

i ask that you remember the last few lines in case you need to tell them to yourself or share with someone you care about ❤️

your heart

i have heard the cry of your heart
and i have kissed you 
as it wept fearfully and safely
gratefully  
against my skin

i have rejoiced with your heart
and i have danced with you 
as it smiled joyfully and hopefully
in the magic 
and in the footsteps of our breath

i have loved your heart
and i have crawled inside as far as you and your manmade walls would let me
as you come and go
passionately 
and quietly 
carefully
and carelessly
lovingly
and recklessly
with 
my heart 
in tow

i honor your heart
if not simply because
it carries mine

your truth ...

sometimes when your heart takes a hit

the debris doesn't scatter 

and the pieces don't choose where to fall

sometimes the wound just patiently leaks

and those loose fragments stick to your skin

and like a slow release 

they peel off 

and dig in

at the same time

little by little 

layered

triggered 

sometimes 

unexpected  

sometimes 

undetected 

always 

your truth

reminding you

to love you 

be where you are

i believe it is not only important

but also necessary

to offer ourselves the gift of compassion.

i know that for me,

when i am going through something

the only way to get to the other side

is to allow myself to be in it in the first place.

i have to feel it,

every bit of it,

sometimes how ridiculously hard it is

sometimes glimpses of how beautiful it is

other times how simply debilitating it is.

i have to face it 

every single day 

until it isn't there anymore

or until it looks 

completely different.

sugarcoating or masking the truth of where we are

does not lead us out of the dark,

does not bring the light to where we are fallen,

and does not remove the shrapnel 

from our soul.

be where you are. 

love yourself there. 

it's okay.

unafraid ...

be every bit 

of who you are. 

dare 

to live a life 

that says

"i am unafraid."