We all know it… Lips curving into a smile Butterflies falling into a belly Dripping nectar & igniting something Is it anxiety, no anticipation Excitement, ecstasy, fear All culminating into… Hello How are you bumblebee, I see your stinger & yes I’m scared But I couldn’t help but notice that you know how to make everything sweet By your nature—in the very act of being You turn beauty in sustenance, flowers are the ground by which your life speaks So tell me, what are you doing next week Another smile… We all know it, This love is our love But not only this, A cold night in September Lungs are failing, stomach is turning A little girl doesn’t have long Blood on a handkerchief—held by the hands of a mother. Her heart breaks because it beats, beats, beats for this little girl who doesn’t have long But she has something A mother who reads her mystery books with voices—the aloof train hop, suave detective, fem fatale, you name it Pretend paper airplanes, wars between princesses with swords and terrible old & the little girls heart sings Because it beats, beats, beats Still. We all know it This love is our love. Homeboy roasting homeboy on open fire Girlfriends chopping it up before the club, or just dinner—father’s telling sons “I’m proud of you.” Heroes remembering that this is why they fight, breaking a back to preserve a family, breaking a heart to preserve thy own, having your broken By someone, or something, or everything. We all know this, This love is our love. It hurts. It nourishes. It’s bullshit. It’s heaven. It ours.