I live in the deep end.

if we meet in the shallows,
I’ll ask you to come deeper.
Not for me,
but for you.

Because you deserve to be felt,
not just seen.
Held,
not just touched.

You cannot truly embrace someone
when you’re knee-deep in surface tension.
Come in.
All the way in.

Feel my heart
pressing against yours.
A drumbeat older than language.

Let the shoulders drop.
Let the wind kiss your skin.
Let the nervous system exhale.

listens for your rhythm.

My hands finds your neck.
We breathe.

this is the sacred art
of holding and being held.