A Simple Declaration

DIARY

I just want to make it,
but still can "excuse"
how
by saying
well
I never want to get caught
by someone who says
"This is something you should have said
but never said,
at least without pressure, pretense, or ceremony,
so that the rest of us might hear."

I love my Jessica
with an ache that tugs me from 5 AM to 4:59:59 AM
and everything in between.

She wakes me in the middle of the night
by flying through my mind when she's not there.

And I know I love her truly.

Because I've been an eager teenager,
and I'm not anymore,
but she still makes me feel alive after five years.

And because I'm not old yet,
but my fingers tingle in anticipation
over ourselves, gray haired and wrinkled,
sharing stories, hot chocolate, tea and moments,
in places and times to come sooner than we'd like.

Never, no nil not poetry zero.
Zip zoom zilch nil nada.

Still. I hear her every night.
I never thought I'd be so satisfied with an echo,
nor thought I'd find such joy in echoing.