I tried on a mermaid dress the other day, and waddled two steps before stripping it off;

I saw how it snagged on my hips and clutched at my chest,

first; to detect a charlatan, check pulse.

             is it too fast? then it’s a fake.

                          body too fat? a fake.

You walked into class two minutes late.

I noticed immediately; you were freshly shaved.

From the top of your sideburns all the way down. You had a baby face.

You looked the same as the day we met, back in the sixth grade, when we were full of optimism.

i have never loved another in the way i have found myself to love you.

i have loved you the way the sun loves the dandelions

and the way the tides love the moon.

i simply cannot imagine a world where we didn’t save one another.