Vow - Emily Jungmin Yoon

[Lawrence Robinson]

Vow

I love you; I don’t know how else to begin.

How we began, though, was almost as if
it were already written. The details of how we arrived

at each other, to say I love you even as we fall asleep,

to let each other’s name be the first sound
we utter every morning, can only be a gift of careful construction,

a design of an elsewhere where we were already together.

Saying nothing, you make me want to live
more meaningfully. The world is so wild, beautiful,

and terrifying, and everywhere we turn, a new atrocity.

Then, I close my eyes and picture joy.
Among things, there is this day. Among faces,

there is yours. And I am no longer afraid.

I watch you in your own, quiet moments,
and I want this life. I want this life

to be longer. All I want is more time with you.

I love you.
This is the only way I know how to end.

	- Emily Jungmin Yoon