Love Poem: Gentle Love
Keiera Pooley Avatar
Written by: Keiera Pooley

Gentle Love

i want somebody to love me;
to love me completely 
and utterly 
and unapologetically
i want a beautiful love
the kind of love that is gentle
the love where i feel the soft hands of somebody place their coat over my shoulders in the cold
the subtle love of their hand resting on my ankle when we’re sat somewhere in public and everyone is around 
but nobody is feeling what either of us do in that moment
people talk about loving dangerously 
i don’t want anymore danger
i don’t want anymore hurt
or caution 
or destructiveness
i don’t want somebody to love me so hard it burns a hole in their heart
but somebody to love me so much the only burns they know come from the fire they feel inside when we hold eye contact for a moment too long 
i’m sick of people matching pain with love 
and hurt with feeling 
not everything has to hurt anymore
at least that’s what i want somebody to whisper to me while my head is on their chest 
and their hands are laced in my hair 
and suddenly it’s not november anymore
and i’m not cold
and i’m not hurt
and i’m not bleeding;
i’m just here 
in love 
in a warm bed 
with their body intertwined with mine 
and the window is slightly open