love is layers and layers of truth.

first this.
then this:

i believe in bears reaching into holes to find honey. i believe in sticky paws and bumble bees and blue summer skies.
i believe in the northern lights and solar flares and that some planets have rings.
i believe in driving fast on country roads, singing along and windows left open.
i believe in ginger tea, peppermint tea, sparkling water, whiskey and soy lattes.
i believe in rolling over to wake up alone, and i believe in listening to you snore. i believe in underwater caves and calderas and tectonic shifting.
i believe in holding hands and walking with my eyes closed.
i believe in rings inside trees and white noise and quenching thirsts however we can.
i believe in parking on the side of the road to have the talk, to tell the secrets, to sit quietly with my hand on your knee.
i believe in watching you dance and rubbing oil into your knuckles and calling out your name 3000 miles away.
i believe in love letters and canceled stamps and whale songs and bird songs and the song you make up while you're washing the dishes.
i believe in spiced foods and salt and lemon zest and chili on my chocolate.
i believe in standing at the edge for as long as is necessary and i believe in falling, flying and walking away.
hot air balloons, orange pickup trucks, gravel roads, kudzu vines and trap doors.
i believe in sleep walking, sleep talking and love.
i believe in saying yes, repeating stories until i get it right, propping the door open, letting moss grow over the path stones.
i believe in words spray painted on sidewalks, brand new birds' nests and lightning-split trees.
i believe in magic and miracles and fairies and elves and goblins and trolls and wizards and witches. hobbits, voldemort, centaurs, giants, bogeymen, shadows, light and heartbreak.


(freewrite: what women know about love, 14 minutes.)