Love Is

 Love is the inability to wipe the smile off of my face as the number of hours until your arrival diminishes to minutes.

Love is running up to you and smashing my face into your chest, taking that first big deep breath of your scent.

Love is the toes of our shoes touching through dinner and soft touches on arms, marveling that you are flesh again.

Love is the warmth of your person and kisses on your lips after dozens of kisses blown off my fingers towards you from far away.

Love is getting coffee in the morning and pretending we are normal, thinking about how every Saturday could start like this.

Love is showing you my new spaces, the places that I have learned.

Love is blowing straw wrappers at each other over lunch and memorizing every inch of your face in the process.

Love is holding hands in a museum that we wander for hours, happy to be there together.

Love is accidentally napping because I heard the sound of your heart tapping with a warm blanket over us and basketball playing.

Love is dinner and drinks and the clock on the wall ticking entirely too quickly.

Love is finding your eyes across the bar and smiling because we know we'll talk about it on the way home.

Love is waking up on Sunday, cozy and filled with dread because the goodbye is imminent.

Love is a quiet brunch because if we talk too much, we might start missing each other before you're gone.

Love is taking 20 minutes to say goodbye because 2 minutes wouldn't do justice for the 2 weeks apart we face now.

Love is breaking as you walk out the door.

Love is not being hungry for the rest of the day because I had to watch you drive away.

Love is looking at pictures while I wait for you to get home safe, wearing the sweatshirt that you slept in last night, and taking a big deep breath of your diminishing scent.

Love is knowing that it won't be this hard someday.

-Emma Lancaster