I love you
in the same way I love the smell of bonfires
the way I love picking blackberries
and the corners of my furniture

apologetically
and wholly
with smoke and purpled fingers
warm in the flames and the summer heat
and your hand in mine

I love you
is a complete sentence
you don’t need to love me back

I love you like breathing
I love you like my lungs love my throat
and my heart loves my ribcage
I love you because I don’t know what it is
to live without you

I don’t need you to tell me you love me
because I love you
like the dog-eared copy of my favourite book
and the goose bumps I get in the theatre
like warm socks and thunderstorms
and glimpses of the sea

I love you because you’re you
I love you because I’m me

Image courtesy of Manuel Meurisse.