Happy Valentine's Day, Dear

I never knew what it was like to dream
   Until the day we met, and hope shook me
Awake, filling my heart with such extreme
   Desire, I thought I’d burst with ecstasy.
I never knew what it was like to live
   Until I died the day you said goodbye,
Or how much love there was in me to give
   Till you returned, and my heart went sky-high.
I never knew how peaceful sleep could be
   Until the day I woke up next to you,
Nor how dreams pale next to reality
   Till what I dreamed became my dream come true.
      I never really knew true happiness
      Till you stood next to me and whispered “Yes.”

Even when you are far away, I feel
   You next to me, warming me with that look
You have, the one that always keeps me real,
   The one that reads me like you wrote the book--
The look I look for and forever find
   In no one else--so, dear, this much is true:
The slice of you that lives inside my mind
   Speaks more to me than mortal women do.
And how much truer does the real you speak
   When we’re together, and the words you say
Make my heart richer and my poor legs weak
   And keep me sane, while showing me the way
      I can be equal to the challenge of
      The truth and inspiration of your love.

Copyright 2011 Matthew J Wells