My Funny Valentine

Yearned For,

I have counted the beats in the interim of your breaths, have learned to listen for your footfalls on crowded streets or in lonely corridors; I know the feel of the weight of your palm resting on my forearm (the blood coursing there is quickened by the slightest brush of your fingers). I know what it means for your belly to rise and fall beneath my hands, clasped around your waist--what it is to cradle you--to keep the scent of your clothes with me on mine for days after seeing you.

I have collected your idiosyncrasies, know all your jokes, but to me you are not predictable. I am still delighted by how much has not yet been revealed.

I gave you my heart at once,yet I am giving it to you in stages; peeling off layers to entreat you to follow me deeper; you will find yourself waiting there.

With the kisses of my mouth,

Kate