OSS # 73: Love

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In the beginning it says
"once upon a time" and we thought
it was easy to put a finger on it-

here, now, this very minute
when what happens
happens with a purpose;

"Hello stranger." And one says
"Hello stranger" back, meaning
"Happy to have met you finally"

that it might be easy enough to say
each other's name with little difficulty,
that it may hold something beyond

the sound of it. And I know you.
And I know you besides the sound of your name,
which is a sound of a restful sleep

I have never known until now,
until I have said it and you
have recognized it as your own,

that I am not calling anyone else
but you, who also said my name as clearly
and with a tenderness beyond definition,

if definition we seek to understand things.
But we learned not to define "us"
because it is just a word; even

if "in the beginning came the word"
which is properly idea. We are not an idea.
Like when I say "I love you"

and I don't mean it. I mean only, you
standing beside me by the sink
in the morning, or by the lonely bus stop

and not waiting for the first time
but knowing inside my head a name
I speak of without surprise,

that which feels like I never have
to say it out loud, only to myself, in silence
but rings clear above my head

like a neon sign that tells me,
"We're here. We're here."

- AJP