You smiled when you wore the sky

you deserve
sequins
to frame your smiling dimples
and silk skirts the color of the sky.

you deserve
buttercups braided into the curls of your hair,
like a crown
and nails dipped in every shade of sunset.

you deserve to name yourself after the wind,
after the way the rhythm in your chest skips a beat and
after the song
in the back of your mind.

you deserve
the butterfly brush of fingers across skin,
absentminded,
with plenty of time.

you deserve
to be imperfect
without being an example,
to be caught
when you fall apart.

you deserve
to be unseen
without hiding
and known
without having to speak.

you deserve
to be young,
instead of carrying the weight
that is hatred
in the place where your innocence 
promised to be.

you deserve
so much
my god,
it aches
to see you;
so brilliant
so beautiful 
so whole,
but aching too- 

aching 
with your whole body.

aching
when all you ever did 
was love.