Atticus

Does the sun promise to shine?

No, but it will—

even behind the darkest clouds,

and no promise

will make it shine longer or brighter

for that is its fate,

to burn until it can burn no more.

To love you is not my promise

but my fate—

to burn for you

until I can burn no more.

Obsession is not love,

infatuation is not love,

when someone ignores you

or treats you poorly, carelessly,

or with indifference

that’s not love—

that’s a lack of love,

for yourself, for trying to fill

your missing pieces with theirs

but when someone is whole

and you are whole

and you act in kindness and benevolence, vulnerability

through strength,

love becomes an exchange

with another person—

and that is

its truest form.

“I don’t believe in magic,”

the young boy said,

and the old man smiled,

“You will, when you see her.”