I’ve been taking in ideas of what life should mean from nameless strangers I’ve never even met.
I try to listen to what they have to say;
I want to tuck it away into my soul and save it for you.

Remember how we liked to watch the lights swinging on the fixture above my kitchen table?
We'd push them gently and watch the bright yellow haze swirling around the room.
I wonder if that is what you feel like in those little moments when you get another small grasp on your sanity.

I caught a butterfly for the first time last week.
It’s brightly colored wings appeared to my squinted eyes as if they were flaming,
and when I let that butterfly go,
I began to understand that fire is what makes people free,
But it is hope that is going to make us free.

Remember the day I took your hand in mine?
You pulled back and kissed my cheek instead,
I heard you say something about how this picture was worth one thousand words.

We are a leap of faith, personified.