love poem #1

all the things i do not know about love –

the proper ways to hold someone through the storm, what to say

when a snake has shed its rippling skin and silence with it,

how to clasp their hands in yours and promise forever –

fall away like nevermore when i see your face,

beaming with pride and uncertainty and love which i almost typed as

your name because when my inbox chimes with another promise my fingers

stumble trip fall over the keys trying to reach it quick enough

to catch you on the other end of the line. all the things i do not know about love

turn into all the things i want to know about love for if you were

a color you’d be the color of the sky right now, grayish-blue and pink at the edges behind the watercolor clouds,

and all the things i want to know about you are what i do not know

about love

which i almost typed as your name.