You look in my eyes
Like you’ve seen them
Somewhere before.
Your eyes
Follow the curves of my body
When you think
I’m not looking.
And my eyes
See your every movement
And I drink all of you,
Swallow quickly,
Gulping like strawberry wine,
Languishing in the sweetness.
You move ever closer
To me.
Your leg slides closer to mine
When we’re sitting on the couch.
I used to do that
When I was in fifth grade –
Slide slowly,
Strategically closer
So I could get that rush
Over jeans touching jeans
While playing video games.
Each time we talk,
We’re closer to each other
Than the time before.
You start hugging me,
Winking at me,
And smiling with more
Than just your mouth.
My dreams have begun
To include kissing you,
Touching you,
Telling you I love you.
I can’t shake the pounding
That threatens to tear open my chest
Each time I talk to you,
Each time I see you.
And you tell me,
With a large smile,
Your hands in your pocket
That you have a girlfriend,
A girlfriend of three years.
Within that same breath,
You tell me you don’t
Think it will work
Between the two of you.
I hold my breath,
I try to avoid your gaze,
While trying,
Still,
To captivate you,
And shake this guilt,
This oppressive sense
Of failure,
My lack of hope,
That you have now instilled in me
Along with every other
Sweet emotion
That encircles me
And steals precious breaths.