Summer Secret

That June, in secret, we promised each other one summer together

for when fall came we would have to part.

With each passing day, we were reminded of the inevitable coming of colder weather,

sometimes wondering if 91 days was worth this start.

We stole kisses beneath the moonlight’s glow,

surrounded by hundreds of strangers.

I felt seen, complete, unapologetically queer and whole,

but knew this easy, coming home feeling did not negate that our being a couple put both our futures in danger.

I looked into your eyes, searching for an answer about what we should do, about what we should be,

longing for the warmth of your touch to be something I could forever keep.

You pulled me in close, calming my racing mind, and without saying a word, gave your answer to me.

It was in that moment I decided that what I had found in finding you was worth taking this leap.

The wild, untamed, unadulterated freedom, the rush of adrenaline I’d get at twenty-one when holding you near,

cannot compare to the secure comfort I find in the depth of this love, so strictly protected, we have nurtured over these past seven years.