I want to see you.

Not the pin-up, cardboard cutout you parade past strangers.

Not the watered-down, ever changing version of yourself you tailor to each person you know.

Not the broken and tired, worthless image you project onto your clouded mirror.

I want to see you.

Not the things you do,

Because although your actions may be beautiful or tragic,

What you do is not you.

I want to see you.

Don’t keep me a school bus length away with the rest of the world

Because that’s as close as you can allow anything before it’s seen

That your smile is slightly lopsided

Your skin is not Photoshop flawless

How your eyes speak more than you’d ever admit.

I want to see you.

I want to be close enough to see the cracks in your mask or makeup.

I want to see every line on your body and know its story.

I want to measure your smile and the degrees of which you claim it’s off by.

That way I know how far to tilt the world the world so you can finally believe

You’re beautiful.

I want to spend hours translating the thoughts your eyes say.

That way when the days go bad and your words get lost,

You won’t need them.

I want to see every dark side of you so I know how many stars I need to pluck from the sky

To light your corners so you won’t be afraid anymore.

I want to see you stripped of every bit of protection you’ve erected to keep everything out.

I want to see everything you’ve tried to bury, hide, and forget because

You deemed it a flaw or a mistake.

I want to sift through your very existence and run my fingers through your soul.

That way I can find all the knots of frustration and anger and comb them out.

I want to see you vulnerable and naked.

With your scars and fears plain to see so that I may caress them and

Work the tired knots from your weary shoulders.

I want to reach into your heart and push out all the parts that have been dented in by life’s rough hands.

I want to gather every part of yourself you’ve ever lost and present them to you

With a piece of snuck me in amid all that makes you who you are.

I want to see all the sides of you where you burn bright.

I want to see every laugh that erupts from you and catch them all because

Your laugh is my favorite sound.

I want to see you every time you’ve happy and take a picture of it.

That way I can show the world how amazing you truly are when your face is filled with joy.

I want to see your eyes filled with that innocent child’s hope that I know you so desperately grasp onto,

But this time for it not to be tainted by others.

I want to see you.

Each and every single part of you.

The monsters and the angels.

Every little, fine-tuned detail you’re made of.

Because if you simply let me in

I could prove,

With every breath and beat of my body,

What love really feels like.