Thick Skin

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...