To love a Fool

I'm in love with a fool.

A man so logically grounded.He always knows the right things to say,the right silence to keep,the right way to steady me when my mind begins to be shaken.

He's wiser than boys our age.And carries a strange sort of  gentleness that feels almost unreal.

He holds my hand when we cross the street.And flowers appear without occasion.

And when he kisses me— it is not with the hunger of boys trying to prove  dominance,but softly,as though affection would never bruise.

He tells me I'm valuable,and somehow I believe him.

But I'm in love with a fool.

He thinks of everyone.

He brings flowers for my grandmother.He wipes the table after we've eaten.He stacks the bowls neatly for the waitress.He holds the door open for me,and then for the three strangers behind us.

His kindness never stops where I begin.

When he hugs me,he doesn't just hold me.

He shelters me...almost like a present wrap

Wraps me in something that feels like safety,like home,like every promise the world forgot to keep.

When nightmares wake me before dawn,he catches me before I can fall apart.He brings me juice.He whispers praise into the spaces my insecurities left behind.He makes the darkness feel survivable.

But I'm in love with a fool.

Because he is committed to everyone.

To every stranger.Every friend.Every old woman crossing the road.Every waitress.Every lonely soul who needs kindness.

His heart has never learnedhow to belong to just one person.

That's the trouble with loving a fool.

He belongs to everyone.

Just never to me.

--EnamM