“Before I Ever Met You”

I searched for you
in places I never expected love to live.
I dreamed of you
before I ever knew your face,
or delighted in your smile.

I kissed your lips a thousand times
before I knew their shape,
loved you
before our lives ever crossed.

Even now, I do not know
whether I will meet you in the world of flesh,
for my love has lived wrapped in a dream:
a dream that could become real
only if you chose to be visible,
only if your presence drew near.

I have heard you are going away,
to a distant land—
whether by choice or by fate,
I do not know,
but I still care.

My mind unraveled when news reached me that you would go.
Though I never touched your face,
never held you,
never learned the scent of your body,
I lost all sense of direction
when I read the words of your leaving,
as if half my heart were displaced,
cut clean into two inseparable pieces.
I cried into the night
and counted too many sleepless hours.

Still, I will search for you:
in dreams,
and, if I must, in the waking world,
until I find you,
where two hearts may merge as one.

And when I do,
I will not turn away again,
for then we will affirm
what has always been true:
that I am yours,
and you are with me.