Redemption

I don't wait for you
to say you love me
anymore.
It isn't something
I question now.

I used to -
wait and question you -
because I thought
when you said
those words
the earth would somehow
move and shake
in a way it never had before.

Then, when you
finally said
those three hard
but simple words,
nothing changed.

My heartbeat did not skip,
my mind was not blown,
and the earth did not stand still.

We continued on
like you simply said
"Hello" or "Goodbye",
just another word
like any other.

But you didn't.
You said the three words
I'd waited over a decade
to hear.
And now I know
this has not been in vain,
and that I am no alone.

I Am Your Pepper Potts

I am your Pepper Potts - 

the girl at your side

always rooting for you

instead of against you

like the women in your bed. 

(I will never be one of them.)

I stand beside you

no matter how dark

your days get,

ready to weather

any storm

brought your way

or you produce

because you are it

for me. 

You always have been

my Iron Man,

the problem I love to solve,

the man with too many plans

and not enough resolve

to finish any of them. 

(I love it all.)

I take the good

with the bad

and love you still.

How many women

have you known

can still say that to you?

(Not one.)

Fair-Weather Friends

For a moment

we knew each other - 

the way the wind

knows the grass

through a soft caress

on a hot summer day - 

just brief and affectionate,

a light whisper

of love

and promises to come. 

But the season has passed

as it does 

and the grass has withered and died,

much like the chance

we had

to be something more

than just a one-time bloom

last spring.

The Perception of a Promise

We used to talk

so much
I knew your number

by heart. 

Now I have trouble

remembering

how it starts. 

You promised

things wouldn't change

just because

I wasn't the one

who warmed

you up at night. 

I have no idea

when the last time

we talked was.

I guess your idea

of change

and mine

aren't the same. 

Breaking Free

The cage beneath my flesh
that has held my heart
in place
is broken,
crushed against
the raging emotion
the muscle can no longer
contain
and I am free.

Handprint

I feel your hand in mine - 

palm to  palm,

sweaty fingertips

tickling my skin. 

When I look down

it's not there - 

just the imprint

of what you left

behind sits

against the flesh

reminding me

of all 

that was lost

in love.

Words

The words on the page

speak to me in a way

that you never have. 

They tell me

the world is round

and the sky

is endless,

that the heart beats

with or without love

and I am more

than you made me to be.