Because I love you,

Because I love you,

My words flow freely from my lips

Spilling my secrets and sharing my hopes

With you, love.

Because I love you,

I laugh too loud and joke too much

One bad pun after another.

You bring out that side of me,

My significant otter.

Because I love you,

I worry too much and I text too often.

But because you love me,

You do the same.

Because I love you,

It isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.

I have let my hard shell crack and expose

The dark and twisty inner workings that used to make men run,

But you, love, I trust.

And because you love me,

You ask permission.

You hold me when I cry,

You tell me all is well.

Because you love me you listen

To my disordered thoughts and self-doubt,

And remind me that I still have to eat dinner.

Because you love me, I am perfect.

Because you love me I don’t feel

The crushing pressure to change.

Because I love you I trust you.

And because I trust you,

I have grown.