Checking Boxes

He is every thing I have ever wanted,

a check marked in

every

box,

the originals,

the non-negotiables,

the ones I have never checked off before.

I used to settle for empty squares,

keep a second list of concessions,

give it two weeks and add another thing that was missing:

☐ one quality someone who hurt me did not have

☐ a quality someone I thought I loved was missing

☐ the opposite of a quality someone who hurt me had

and so on and so on,

until I got sick of half-checked lists.

Now, I tell him he is all green flags;

I mean that he is all checkmarks,

and when I add to the list, it is not from disappointment, but to set the bar:

☑︎ one thing he does (that makes me question everything I settled for before him)