Thick Skin

Her hands were panned from the feather river Hair pulled from the mines of Jundee She's traveled over a thousand miles I think just to smile at me I can hear her songs in the whispers In the quiet spaces between phrases Reminiscent of long winters Where the silent glisten rages In her evergreen eyes My world is never dark I am always on the verge of springtime Where the sun has left its mark On my skin I am warm and teeming with gratitude In the glowing reflection Of her gaze, I am so happily subdued By the look on her face So full of love and adoration This must be the place Where understanding meets elation Sometimes my fingers ache With the anticipation to rediscover The shape that hands make When they hold each other These hands were made for you To hold on winter nights Your love is something I never knew Could make my world so bright

I've wanted to say it for so long It overwhelms me every time I say those three words to you I feel my spine Straighten The hair on my neck stands at attention To be recognized Because my heart floats up so high When you look at me with those eyes And you reply With more love and intention Than I could ever mention When you tell me you love me too And I am so grateful for you So grateful to be so in love With someone so worthy So other-worldly I'll never forget the first time This I promise you You say things sometimes That I've been thinking all my life And it makes me feel so close to you So easy to promise you That I'll never say it out of obligation Or for any other reason Than when I feel it so purely So justifiable, so surely And every time I look at you I see an angel Clothed in perfection, so gentle So kind and so intentional How high am I That I can see heaven in your eyes I'm covering this candle with my hands Protecting t...

Sometimes I reminisce About summer The risks that we took To be closer Our skin hot under the sun Our thighs touching Me coming undone At the touch of your hand On my skin The divine state of being Feeling reckless and wild Watching you be beguiled By my music taste The little surprises that we didn’t waste Seizing moments at every turn Of our cars winding around the curves That shortened the distance between you and I Destroying walls that stood so high Tearing them away in strokes Of hands on guitar strings Or hands running through your golden hair I think a part of me will always live there Where I fell in love with you And I will carry it with me No matter what I do Or where I go I think of you And I always know That you are the one who parted the clouds for me So I could see the sun You are summer You are fire And warmth and light And I must’ve done something right Because you’re here with me And I’ve never fe...

"Thank God for you" she said as I kneeled above her Does she know that she has altered The entire trajectory of my life? She has stolen my misery And tucked it away, hidden it from me Behind emerald eyes She disguises it with kisses With sweet and tender voices Before sleep and after waking Where she says things That remind me that she is mine for the taking What have I done to deserve her? Count my blessings On these hands that she loves so much That can reach out and touch This beautiful woman Hoping she will be my someone always For all my days I hope she tells me she loves waking up to me Still can't believe she said thank God for me Never in my life have I felt such happiness Such love, so pure and so precious

A warmth passes through me When I hear someone speak your name My heart leaps from my chest A flicker stirs from this ever burning flame And light spreads across my face The sun rises leaving traces Of light in my smile, in golden reflections Of you And words roll off your tongue Like water over stones In a stream As you speak of a dream You never had before you met me And your words echo in my ears In the sweet songs you sing That I never knew Before I met you And I hear the ripples in your voice That carry the tune That make me swoon Every time you speak I look into your eyes, wild And I see all the wonder of a child The way you look at me With this electricity That urge my hands to hold you To reach out and touch This girl that I've wanted so much and sometimes I just can't believe you're mine But it's you and me And I could never be more happy

This fire inside me will not be still It grows and grows Filling the space in my chest It rages, so intense That my hands are burning too With the thought of holding you I long to stand beside you wherever you go I want you to grow To hope and dream To rejoice and to sing About every little thing In your life that holds meaning I want to lay on a blanket beneath you Beneath a Chicago sky Burning in your eyes I want to look at the eyes you see through So I can see the skylines The cityscapes and the countrysides That will pass us by As your hand is clasped in mine

In the silence   In the darkness in your room   I can hear the candles flicker   I can hear the wicks Snap and burn As ashes crumble into the wax My hand finds its way to your back And I pull your body into mine You wash over me like wine And your love leaves a stain That I will never complain about It lingers on me like the perfume you wear Like your lips on my skin You leave an impression Wherever you touch me Your fingertips brush against me And I lose my breath And I pause to acknowledge How grateful I am That you took a chance on me That you choose me Every day in every way that you can And you look at me with such adoration Can you see the memories sparkling in my eyes? Can you see all the stories we’ve yet to write? You see right through me And I through you And you tell me I tear down all your walls And leave you vulnerable To love and be loved by me I hope I will always be The person who can see you In your purest form Who can wa...

Summer days Have come and gone And leaves begin to drift Softly down from the outstretched arms Of the trees that shaded us From the heat As a swift And chilling wind sweeps through the mountains I can hear the whispers Of winter Not far behind And my eyes Turn grey in preparation Smoke clings to the air Like cobwebs Rolling out of chimneys Haunting my skies like ghosts And yet without sun and without warmth I feel unbridled joy still I watch you tread through fallen leaves Stirring them up and watching intently As they dance around your feet Wearing your carhartt beanie And my hands always seem to find yours In the sway of your step I wrap my arm around you I long to walk hand in hand with you Through every season Harsh or mild My nights are filled with thoughts Of you and I Conquering sidewalks One by one Until our veins Are maps of where we’ve been So each time your fingers touch my skin You can hear the howling wind Or the hum of cars on city s...

She is a deciduous tree Shedding her skin like leaves And she believes In the process Even when it causes her distress Hands like Michelangelo Chipping off pieces of limestone And watching them shatter at her feet Hoping that someday her masterpiece Will feel complete She's spent years perfecting Each seemingly jagged edge Waiting to put her work on display Until she felt okay With the results Seeking consult From third party objectives Trying to round out her perspective And I am just an onlooker I've traveled hundreds of miles just to look at her To stand at her feet in silent wonderment I am but a servant To a work of art with sweeping admiration in my eyes And looking at you I could cry I could let myself go And I know You are struggling through a perfectionist's curse And when it hurts To feel you haven't reached that finish line quite yet When your struggle for self feels infinite Know that my affection is too And my strong and gent...

I want my fingers to strike your skin Like the matches in the matchboxes you've been collecting And I want sparks to emanate from my fingertips As I stroke your bottom lip And lean in to kiss Those lips that I have missed So deeply And it seems an eternity has passed Since I last Held you in my arms, but it’s been only hours But this fire is only ours To burn And as time turns Quickly or slowly it matters not For I will have sought After you the same in every other reality In every parallel you were meant for me Summer has come and gone but I still feel the heat Coming off of you I see the blue Watery reflections in your eyes With your thighs Wrapped tightly around my waist In the place Where we would swim and play And I can smell blackberries ripe and sweet When I bury my face in your golden hair I keep These memories close to me And I add new ones too And more and more I try less to play it cool Because I want to tell you everything Every thought th...

In the still of the night I wake To lay my eyes upon your face Fixed in my gaze You are beauty, elegance and grace and I worship you in a sleepy haze The sweet perfume of your skin Surrounds me Your eyes shine like pearls in a dark sea In the shadows of the night Glints of light Burn like candles in the darkness Flickering in and out of consciousness Your eyelids heavy Each blink slow and steady You look at me and smile  The fire within you burns for a while Until your tired eyes close again And I look at you wondering when They may open And drench my world in gold Warming my hands in the glow Of the fire within your soul You awaken parts of me That have been asleep For far too long Waiting for you to light my nights With your precious smile And I know when I close my eyes and begin dreaming I will picture every redeeming Quality, every perfect trait that you possess And dream of ways to express The way you have changed me forever Every day and ever...

I hang on your words Like linens on a clothes line Light and gentle I listen carefully To catch every intentionally Placed verse That slips melodically From your lips I watch your eyes Dancing from one of my eyes to the other As a smile makes its way to your face And the sun rises and sets as you speak Over and over again And I have never felt so weak And yet so strong Like I could melt at your touch And burn a city to the ground With a look Because you know my mind And you know my heart And when I burn you burn too And I will happily melt or burn for you Forever Hanging in the balance Between the greatest vulnerability And the greatest strength I've ever felt in my life In choosing you And being chosen by you I have been bewitched by you I long to be near you Every day from now Until I have no more tomorrows to live And even then I will still have love to give Even when my heart turns cold and blue It will always ache for you.

Skin is malleable It can bruise, stretch, bleed It is a home that we work to keep clean We wear our insecurities for the world to see Bear our scars From times less fortunate than these Cuts and scrapes appear on our elbows and knees Times when we fell When we faltered Or we crawled Revealing the truth of the battles we have lost With ourselves And those blessed souls Who happen to wear their stretchmarks With brazen defiance Who play and laugh and dance In the face Of those who might make them feel less than Are just as beautiful As those who cover themselves in cotton Their confidence or lack thereof is not an indicator of their beauty Rather it is the acknowledgment that there is work still to do Room still to grow into And perhaps more beautiful are they For they know the pain in the reflection in the mirror And yet they still wake up And strive to look at themselves and say, "I am beautiful." Despite flaw or some perceived shortcoming They nev...

Nights with you are sacred Whispered words And stolen kisses Cheek to cheek with you Chasing your hands Beneath your king sized sheets Always longing to be closer to you Waking up to you laughing Dreaming happy things That you’ve never dreamt before And I feel light Like I could drift away Like I could float free Of worry And just know The way my heart aches for you And as your eyes begin to open I crave the way you inch closer to me The way you nudge me with your cheek Finding my hands in these sheets And cradling them in yours You press your lips to my skin And all over again Little wings flutter And hope rises up in my throat I whisper, “good morning” My eyes are searching Wading through seas Of thoughts and words That I cannot wait to say to you Of things I cannot wait to do with you Because you give life To the butterflies in my stomach I miss you when you aren’t with me More whole heartedly Than ever before ...

I think about the mountains we have climbed Lines that we’ve crossed To be closer I think of ties that will bind Your hands to mine As we traverse each rocky hillside I think about how I stood beside you When you were feeling lost I think about how you reassured me Time and time again That no amount of distance Lessened your feelings for me For the first time in my life I felt faith In something I couldn’t see That I couldn’t hold I closed my eyes And I clutched my chest To feel my heart beating To feel what it meant to be alive And I cast my eyes to the west And watched every sunset With you in mind I pictured your face in the watery reflections Of the river I swam in with you I heard your voice in every bird's precious song In every cricket singing Warming my nights with thoughts of you And I think about the mountains I would climb To be close to you To bring a smile to your face To press your body close to mine To cat...

Clouds on the verge of crying Gathering the courage  To be vulnerable To cover a once blue sky With arms of grey And shed their tears upon the world Chimes that sound Their eerie tune In the haste of a sudden wind The leaves on the trees rustle The world quivers at its touch Golden arms reaching for the horizon Rays of sunshine curl their fingers Over the edge of the world Light seems to hum its way Into a new day Tides pull the moon from its pillow And wakes it to light the night For men on rolling seas Who long for lovers far away And sand beneath their feet All of these beautiful things On the edge of becoming Make me think of you and me Just touching the surface of what we will be Together and individually I am made stronger just by the possibility Of loving you My sweet We are on the edge of becoming.

Ever since I met you You saw right through The wall that I had built A patchwork quilt That I had sewn together A little dreamcatcher To keep the bad things out The worry The disappointment The heartbreak But I couldn’t help but move When I saw you I clawed my way through The stitching Until I was standing bare Stripped of my defenses And I didn’t care If I came out bleeding If I came out defeated Because I looked at you And I knew That you would be The beginning or the end of me And even if you left me in ruins People would travel the world To come and stand where we stood When the bomb went off When the fire broke loose Lovers cast in stone Holding each other as the ashes rained down They would come to marvel At one of the wonders of the world Because true love is rare When it stuns you When you weren’t prepared And people love to see that They stand breathless before two hearts Once strangers Now can barely...

In my soul was a slow burning ember A glow that when stirred Would send sparks cascading into the night Shedding light For short bursts at a time But somehow never started a fire And then you came Along with your flame Striking matches in the dark You are to blame in the best way For my heart Caught a spark And it burns in my eyes when I look at you Circles of fiery blue A flickering reflection of you And I will not move I will reach for your hand, interlock our fingers tongue and groove And revel in the heat As the ground turns to ash beneath my feet As my fears are stripped away And I know I am here to stay When sunny days are long forgotten As the air fades from summer to autumn And the leaves drift from the trees As the rains come and anger tumultuous seas I will be burning still For you Through the fall and through winter chill Through spring and through summer all over again I have been awoken By you, and I will never be the same You are to blame...

Your face against the backdrop of streetlights Pouring in through white Curtains Is there anything more perfect In this world than this? To hear you breathing deeply To watch your chest rise and fall And watch your eyelids grow heavy With each labored blink Your blue eyes peek out from underneath And then disappear again - I can't help but think That I am hanging onto seconds between Waiting for them to open again To leave me breathless like they always do And my arms are wrapped around you Your skin is warm and pressed against me And you kiss me on the cheek so sweetly I know there is no rush But sometimes in the quiet hush In the swing of dusk I hold onto the twilight When your eyes light the night With the fire I've been waiting all my life To see burning bright Sometimes it's hard To safeguard These words left unsaid In these moments that feel so perfect

Wrap me in a denim jacket That smells like you Beneath a meteor shower That we can't even see Drowned in street lights And cityscapes And somewhere above us the sky is falling  - And it's not the only thing - When I sit across from you I forget about all the people The streets The lights All I see is you In vivid color As everything else fades to black and white I hear only your voice Dancing through the air Your words rolling off of velvet lips And you will revel In the lavender scented sidewalks You will sweep your hands through it And bring it your face And you will bring it to mine So I can share in every charming delight This world has to offer You see the beauty in everything And I can't help but think you're just reflecting Onto the world around us The wondrous Way that you are And as I think of every falling star Streaming through the night above There's nothing more beautiful that I can think of Than you, smiling at me On a...

Under string lights in the heat of summer I stand in awe of you and wonder If you feel the magic that you emanate Perhaps even these lights were illuminated By the surge of electricity when you passed by wide eyed like a child And you taught me how to dance Your hand was in my hand And looking into your eyes Nothing has ever felt more right To me Living out the romantic fantasies Of my youth dreaming in my bedroom Of a woman like you That I might give my heart away to These words feel small When stacked against the grandeur of it all Of all these memories That I hold so close to me I wish sometimes You could see you through my eyes Just to know how incredible you are All I have are These hands, these eyes, these words That I hope have stirred You in some way  It is rare that I stop to pray But I pray that you find what you need I pray that you feel free