002. Love

The thought of it stalked me through the night.
A single touch sent me running, hiding,
crying in the thick of the dark.
I feared it, such an intense fear.
It had haunted me,
but it was everywhere.
The emptiness was everywhere,
Always surrounding me.
Always there.

How is it possible
to fear something you do not know?
I believe, it is the absence
that creates the fear.
So strong, so longed for.
To me,
so empty.

Lost in a world of hatred and anger;
Open to the pain and risks of the world.
Vows were uttered, full of empty lies,
Every emotion beaten down.

I wanted to say it, I wanted to know the meaning.
Every part of me shivered as you said it,
opening the wounds I had taped shut;
ripping into the deepest parts of me.

"I love you," he said.