And And And With You

Caitlin Earle

I want to sip coffee with you on Christmas morning while we watch our children tear open their presents.

I want to plant flowers in our yard while you mow the lawn.

I want to cook dinner with you

and fold laundry with you

and

and

and

with you.

I want to wake up every morning lying next to you.

I want the life with you that I can see and feel so vividly.

It’s so close, I can taste it, yet so far I fear I might starve before I reach it.

I want the way you look at me to be what I see every time I close my eyes.

I want to feel your hand on the back of my neck long after you’ve kissed me.

I want to know everything there is to know about you - because the more I learn, the more I love you.

I want us to choose each other in this and every lifetime.

I want the good days and the bad days and the long days and the short days.

I want the and

and

and

days with you.

I want you to be the one to kiss my forehead and whisper that everything is going to be ok.

I want to be the one whose chest you lay your head on at the end of the day - feeling safe in the comfort of knowing that I am your home.

I want the smile at the mere mention of your name.

I want the goosebumps when I hear your voice.

I want the butterflies when your hand simply brushes against my leg.

I want the safety and security of the hugs that are so tight I feel like you could break me while we stand

heavy in the midst of the irony that you’re actually the one who has put me back together.

I want the nothing and the something and the everything with you.

I want the

and

and

and

with you.

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Caitlin Earle
Caitlin Earle is a New England writer who explores the inner landscapes of love, longing, and becoming. Her poems often arise from lived experience and the feeling of standing on the threshold of transformation. She writes to translate emotion into clarity.