Before and After

Before I met you, I hadn’t a clue what love really was.
Sure, I’d said I love you
many times before.
But it wasn’t until I held you in my arms that
I realized what love truly was.

I used to believe love was lust,
control,
dependence.
Pain.

Now, I’ve learned that love is
fearing the pain of your partner.
Holding each other when nights get tough.
It’s giving all that you have
and knowing the same is done for you.

Love, to me,
is growing with one another,
not holding each other back
with childlike insecurities and dependency.
We watch each other take the other higher,
high above the clouds,
all while keeping our feet firmly planted on the ground.

Together, we’ve taken steps to overcome our demons
that we’ve tried to silence with new ones.
We’re learning to love ourselves
while falling evermore in love with each other.