this longing for you follows wherever I go

"When I am with you, I feel like I inhale and you exhale."

When I am not with you, I feel like I cannot breathe at all.

Within my chest, a pair of vestigial organs hangs in suspense, anxiously awaiting that breath of fresh air only you supply. And then — only then — do I realize that it actually is possible to breathe new life into collapsed lungs. But this miracle marks only the beginning of what you bestow: respiration, yes, but also inspiration, restoration, exultation, and even a little occasional perspiration. You make me sweat... from this intensive labor of love, under the heat of your gaze, and over the distinct possibility that it could all go back up in smoke at a moment's notice.

Fear is powerless to stop the beating of a strong heart, however, and while my bronchi may be atrophied, my atria and ventricles remain as unflinching as ever in the robustness of their reverberation. So let this pulse serve as proof — so long as there is life in me, it is from alone you that I draw breath.