Our Secret Language of Stars

We listened with our eyes.
If you were asleep,
in bright fuchsia dreams,
I would stand watch,
guard your vulnerability,
fend off those who mistook
your empathy for weakness.
My awakened brain would be nothing
without you.
We ride a tandem bike every day,
take turns navigating
the map of emotion,
the dry, bumpy terrain,
the way life sometimes defies translation.

Dear Heart,
dear bruised, blood pumping,
memory keeper heart,
you reside in my chest
and in shadow,
like cosmos.
Where you go, I will follow.
We are inextricably connected.

Our Secret Language of Stars

If I ever forget to leave the light on,
bring you into the conversation,
embrace every velvet thread of you,
may you hold my chin,
open my envelope of synapses and wires,
speak your truth freely.
May the heart never be taken
for granted.
May we breathe as one,
like lovers
and their secret language of stars.