Forerunner

His smile fore-runs mine

The way lightning precedes thunder

The way existence precedes essence

My lips only knew quivering when they met his

My heart only knew safety when his met mine at the door.

His eyes are the only ones I trust my body to in harsh light.

His hands the only ones that roam at midnight

He peruses the catalogs of my soul

The unpublished

The bent, dog-eared, yellowing pages,

Dips his guitar string fingertips into the depths of my depths

Into the unedited,

Untamed

Parts of me

The parts that respond only,

Unravel only at the tap of his fingertips

The hidden depths that are only unlocked at the whisper of a touch.

From him and him alone

Unlocked only by his wide open silences

Unasked questions

By his smile

By his smiles that fore-runs mine

Like lightning fore-runs thunder