A Love Like This

You never knew a love like this; the one that starts in your lungs.

The one that doesn’t feel like nausea or heartburn, the one that doesn’t feel like migraines.

You never knew a love like this; where it’s as easy as breathing.

You’ve always known love like aching; like all claws and teeth and digging into skin.

Like screaming until your throat burns. You’ve always known love like being fifteen and forcing your bones to grow larger than this skin that holds them, like standing on your toes until your back hurts, until you feel your spine give way.

You’ve always known love like being uncomfortable, like the pangs in your chest when they leave, like the blood your own teeth draw from your lips.

Like your head spinning with so much anxiety, like the numbness of your hands.

You never knew a love like this; the one that starts in your lungs, the one that smells of soft rain and early morning air.