There are times

I want to squeeze the I love you’s out of you

like you are an orange & I am quenched.

Times I cannot imagine getting tired of your voice

or the reminder I am worth everything that you believe I am.

I once read a book in which the veteran goes back to Vietnam.

Finds peace. Finds water lilies blooming where he almost drowned.

If words can make a place safe, I will spend my life listening to you

tame the explosions inside my chest, until there is only the after.

I let you hold me

and this body is no longer a warzone.