You smile rays of wisdom from emerald eyes so precious
As lustrous as they were years before I knew you
Years before I was born.

Your hair forms whimsical designs on your back.
So naturally and modestly exposed
To my eyes which admire
Your subtle perfection.

Your laugh reverberates in my soul
And fills my being with hunger
For life and for love.
You’re in gentle control
Of my happiness which flutters
And takes flight in your presence.

In your embrace I’m consumed,
Encapsulated
Permeated and alive with your energy.
As you squeeze me and smile into me
With such intensity
And understanding.
You know me so completely.

I won’t say goodbye to you.
But you drift across oceans
And cause storms of anxiety
In the wake of my heart’s withdrawal.
And when you return
I feel as foreign as the countries you’ve perfumed
with your presence
My words cower
I feel powerless against my neuroses
Which tell me I’m a nuisance
And that you don’t love me anymore.

Change scares me
I don’t want it
I want you
To be there at my side and hug me the way you used to.
In your embrace
Inhibition was such an absurd concept.

Please return to me, in your boisterous, unfettered glory
Swaddle me in generous helpings of attention and love so sweet and uncompromised.
Tell me you’ll forgive my adolescent inconsistency of character.
Prove to me that ‘always’ can exist.