In your words, my heart
skips a beat and then
finds its true cadence,
summons the courage

to look past

   the rippled reflection
   of reminiscence and
   remembered loss,

to hear further

   than empty echoes
   of rejection and betrayal
   that say I am not,

to rise above

   the depths to which
   others would assign me,
   to which I sink so willingly.

In my heart, your words
fall like snow, evoking
forgotten smile, melting
on my thirsty tongue.

How they turn, your words,
in my heart’s vast ribbon sky.
And how soft their steady beat;
how strong, their gentle leading.