I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand

.upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close

–

Does this darkness have a name? this Cruelty, this Hatred. How did it find us? Did it steal out into our lives, or did we embrace it? What happened to us, that we now send out children into the world like we send young men into war; hoping for their safe return, but knowing that some will be lost along the way. When did we lose our way? Consumed by the shawdows, swallowed whole by the darkness

?Does this darkness have a name

?Is it your name

–

We met in the summer. You were hot for her and I was cold from my past lover. We shared a moment or two before the weather started to change. We were in love, but not with each other.

We met again the next fall. You were sweet to me and I was bitter over the path my life had taken. We shared a night, spent speaking of everything there was to speak of. I learned that your mother was your best friend, and you read to me your favorite poems in a language more beautiful than I. I showed you what was in my heart, and you showed me the bed. We were in love with the thought of being in love.

I asked if you wanted to leave, the last thing I heard before I fell asleep was “Goodnight princess I love you.” I woke up that morning to the sound of your snoring. You were there. I fell asleep happy and woke up happier. We were in love because we were there.

We met again the next night, and every night after that. I gave you pieces of my heart, and you traded them for pieces of yours. I gave you pleasure with my body, and you gave me comfort with yours. We fell so fast we didn't know where we were going, but we didn't care. We were in love, but we wouldn't say it. 

You were in the car with your grandpa the night I told you I was in love with you. I anxiously waited for your response for too long before you told me you'd been waiting to tell me that for a long time. So had I. We were in love, and we knew it. 

We were together. We were happy. Everything was okay. We met again in the winter. Several frosts had left us cold. You spent nights drinking alone and I spent them trying to keep warm. You were never there. I cared too much, but you didn't care at all. You stopped calling, I stopped waiting. We were in love, but we weren't. 

We met again in the spring. I looked at you, and you looked at her. We were never in love.

We met in the summer, and our love burned like the sun. You left in the winter, and our love froze like the earth.”