Take me past

the guarded place

in you

where confusion

covers itself

in unrelenting confidence

then marches on

in lively steps

Take off the façade

let it fall away

into nowhere

Turn around and face me

I search the infinite depth

where beyond all entrenchments

I find your thirst

to be met

and understood

the sadness in your bones,

the want of your silent cries

to be heard

and be known—

abiding within those

unseen landscapes

is a world of precious

dreams

Let me touch where

the battle wounds

lie quietly healing—

Buried beneath

an armored sheath

rests a lifetime of love

and loneliness,

blame and triumph,

honor and defeat

Within this blended web

of scars and treasures,

glistening with honesty,

there you are—

I found you,

beneath the soldier’s plated heart

So loosen the knots around my own

see all its agony bared and mending

and in between each open space

we’ll breathe upon the frailty

All the wishful longings to be had

bring to me yours

as I meet you there with mine.

Love elephant and want to go steady?

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Editorial Apprentice: Jamie Khoo/Editor: Renee Picard

Photo: Austens at Flickr