Where Love Began

Love fell over me calmly The way a pink sunrise steadily collects the morning frost It was a warm sheet that billowed out over me before settling back down Soft-colored and small-winged, butterflies came to life and breathed inside my stomach They didn’t flutter frantically- swooping and dashing They floated as one; Swelling in unison with my breathing and one by one, I breathed them out in my sleep Their wings brushed a glow on my skin And they licked red roses on my cheeks They remained there, hovering around my head Love didn’t knock me off my feet It asked to hold my hand It gently rippled over me The way a whisper in the ear ripples goose bumps over your skin Slow and inviting, Its embrace was like sinking into a warm bath— I could feel that drastic line where it spread: where the water level stops and laps at your skin part of your body submerged, the rest, prickly and exposed in the cold air that line was where I was and where love began Love sailed towards me on the swirls of a gentle breeze The way sail boats glide over waves on the sea It lifted and played with my hair I outstretched my arms and leaned into its embrace It hugged me back It swayed me to and fro It lovingly tightened its grip, and it hasn’t let me go