“And now, please state your vows.”
I wish I could stand here
and promise you a flawless love.
That I will never miss the mark,
never speak the wrong word,
never leave even a fingerprint of hurt
upon your heart.
But I will not build our house on a lie.
So instead,
I promise you
the brutal,
beautiful
truth.
I will be the spine you lean against
when your own feels brittle.
You will never face the dark alone.
I knew how to survive a war
long before I knew your name,
and now,
every battle I walk into,
I walk in wearing your colors over my chest.
When your voice fractures,
I will lend you mine.
When your name is spoken in rooms you are not standing in,
I will guard it
like a sacred text.
Anyone who tries to make you small in my presence
will learn exactly
how fiercely
I defend my own.
When you fall
(and we both know you will),
I will not watch from the safety of the edge.
You will never be left behind.
Never left hollow on the ground.
I will meet you in the dirt.
My hand will be the first thing you feel—
reaching,
steady,
sure.
And if your legs forget how to hold you,
I will carry the weight of you
until they remember.
I vow to be the anchor
beneath a world that forgets how to stay.
The current
that always finds its way back to your shore.
The quiet in the chaos,
and the storm against anything
that tries to stand between us.
A fire steady enough to warm our home,
measured enough
never to burn down the forest.
I cannot promise you perfection.
But I offer you
every fractured,
flawed,
ferocious
piece of me,
laid entirely open in your hands.
I promise you my effort.
My absolute loyalty.
My return.
Every single time.
As long as there is breath in my lungs,
you will never look across a crowded room
and wonder who I am looking for.
You will never have to ask
if you are claimed.
Because my answer is yes.
Today.
Tomorrow.
In this life,
and whatever comes next.