i hope my words are strange and wondrous,

like kisses that quiet all things superfluous,

so that we can all stop and

listen

i've began to see the leaps and bounds i've taken in re-centralizing my focus

on the beloved figure of Christ.

there are many things that i am still learning about love,

but these are a few that i've come to know:

love builds

love hopes

love believes

love commits

love lets go sometimes

love laughs

love cries

love is on its knees

love speaks

love is not love

love is none of the above,

those are merely what a possessor of love will do

love, really,

is that we exist, that we have purpose, that there is reason, that there are two and not one, but one made from two.

love is not a sugar-coated bite of fantasy,

love is not a bitter dose of cynical reality,

love is waking up every morning, remembering that someone watches over me,

and his gaze gives me freedom to fulfill who i was meant to be.

so when i love again,

i will watch over somebody,

and a double set of gazes,

means two times over,

"i love all you are, and all you will become"

so beloved,

see you in the next year,

or the year after next.

before the gaze,

there's always the waiting.