I never considered myself a romantic,
at least not out in the open
till the day I felt a lover’s kiss
and realized just how I was so broken,
that deep inside –
I was just trying to survive
each day as it came, each moment lived in fear
I’d forgotten how to smile, so used I was to the tears
that danced upon my heart, like claws digging into bone
Till I saw something in his eyes, something that I used to know –
that love really is there, if I could only see it
it’s always been there, just waiting for me to believe in it
that deep within this ocean of fears, so deep that I could drown
A lover’s kiss broke the spell,  dragging the shadows
down
revealing the light that lay beneath,
tearing past gnashing teeth
no longer hurt nor maimed,
the power of love reclaimed –
a kiss so soft, like butterfly wings
I close my eyes, and let my soul sing.