"The most beautiful part of your body is where it's headed."
-Ocean Vuong
He called me beautiful like it was my name.
I told him "beautiful" was a lousy thing to call me.
I am so much more than beautiful.
I am the setting sun on burning sand.
And pure sugar poured into tea.
I am your favorite novel read on the train to Paris.
And wildflowers on mountain top meadows.
I am a red dress in a shadowed lounge.
Believe me when I say thank you
Because I am grateful.
But I know you better than you think
And I know you're scared.
Trust me when I say, we've all felt fear.
So scream my name to the wind
Pierce it with your words
Pound the clouds with your dictition.
Only then will I say it back.
Unleash your full potential and keep
Walking towards me.
Because I know what you can become.
I've seen glimpses and shadows of the man inside.
And to me that is beautiful.
So beautiful that your heart was not meant for this world
And your knees are not yet bruised from kneeling
In supplication to the sky
Beside your bedside as I look in from the doorway.
Maybe my name isn't "beautiful"
But maybe yours isn't either.
Believe me when I say that together, aligned like
Two halves of a whole,
We, and only we, are beautiful together.
You make miracles on my skin.
I paint masterpieces down your back.
We spin our wildest dreams across the bedroom ceiling.
So, I'll tell you once:
I am not beautiful. We are beautiful.
