miracle itself.

i push a velvet curtain back and am revealed 

the ever-beating presence of love.

not the feeling,

presence, not asking to be reciprocated back. 

only asking to exist in it’s explicit, versatile ways.

selflessly, in its extraterrestrial way. 

even in my isolated state,

a stranger on the block

who plays his cello

hummingly expresses his love for me

only in the best way he knows. 

i take off my costume at night,

what’s only left of me are my barebones.

my spotty, sensitive skin,

green eyes left puffy,

hair filthy with a collected gruesome stench.

all of me left a blank canvas.

and i’m still wished a good night's sleep and told i’m loved.

i woke up to a friend text me out of thin air

“i can't wait to see you” 

my best friend cries as she says goodbye to me.

one person compliments my smile.

another sends me their favorite song.

my mom calls three times..

all in one day, a saturday.

we all tend to focus on what we do for others,

yet forget to step back and look at what others do for us.

and how that can reflect on who we are as a soul. 

and how that very lifeline is how us as humans survive. 

much has changed since we were apes, bursts of light, whatever you may believe.

to me,

the weapon to how we have made it through three hundred thousand years

of all the battles, all the inventions, all the discoveries, all of the art,  

is the presence of love.

calling your grandmother,

first dances as spouses,

holding the door open for the person behind you.

as you lay in bed,

counting your minutes,

until death comes to greet you.

i can't imagine people use their last minutes

playing through the moments of insecurities or hardships or shortcomings.

what is pictured is how their child laughed

or the very beauty of falling in love

or their mom and dad helping them ride a bicycle. 

i see the hardships in the world.

i see my hardships in the world.

i see myself in the mirror, 

and maybe for the first time-

in my adult life

where i pay taxes and vote,

i see a reflection of the love that built me 

moment by moment

to be brave enough 

to love the world back 

and its silly people

knowing the miracle of existence uninterrupted.

and with all of that-

aren't i the luckiest girl to live?