"what makes a person beautiful"

below this i wrote every part of a human body

i wrote every positive quality that a person can have

every adjective and every simile

then i highlighted everything

and instead i just wrote "idk"

-----

i never thought that i might be beautiful

until you told me that i was beautiful

when you were

stretched out across the couch

i knew that you meant it

because you said it in a quiet voice

and you were not touching me

stretched out across the couch

together

i am a

and you are a

and i am a

and you are a

-----

beauty is a commonplace object

-----

i will always remember you

biting your bottom lip

and looking like a scared child

also maybe

you

scooping me up in your arms

i am a bulk bin full of gummy bears

and you are the metal scoop thing

you take every part of me

i am gummy and delicious

-----

i am thinking of beauty as a forest after a rain storm

i will shake the leaves by running my fingers through them

and the water will cover me

-----

"what makes a person beautiful"

in a text edit document i highlight "idk" and write

is the way their voice sounds at a whisper

how their whole face changes when they smile

it's the way they look at you when they are trying not to look at you

the way that their body tucks into yours like that is what a body is for

their silences

their warmth

big eyes in a dark room

bony ribs into their bony ribs

i want it all