//By me//

Before you, life was the tired, same old melody,

repeated in every club, on every floor,

in every bed; the same story,

the same personalization of every man's expectation.

I was not waiting.

I refuse that old cliché.

I will not pretend to be whole by you.

I am whole by me,

and broken still,

and made new every day.

But I am different, and here's why:

Before you, hours could disappear every day in silence.

Before you, I didn't know that a partner was a best friend, a constant,

standing there after you did your worst.

Before you, I knew what grief was,

I had seen my own born in the face of someone who died as I held their hand.

I have sat with someone I have known all my life, knowing she wasn't there anymore.

I knew what it was like to be someone's more when they wanted less.

Someone's too much.

I still don't know how it feels to be sufficient, even though I am.

To be your everyday, your forever; but I hope by tomorrow I'll understand.

//By me//