The First Time You Reach for Me

[echo escarp]

The first time you reach for me—
      not out of instinct,
      not because you’re falling,
      but because you chose me—
I think I might break.
  But softly.

Not like glass.
Like bread.
  Like something meant to be opened
    so it can feed.

Maybe it’ll be nothing.
Just a tired arm
  sleepily wrapping around my neck,
    your weight pressed into my chest
    like it always belonged there.

But I’ll feel it.
That small, steady trust
  landing in my bones
  like sunlight through a crack
    in a house I never thought would feel like home.

You won’t know the history
  you healed in that reach.
You won’t know
  how many times I wanted to be held
    and was taught not to ask.
You won’t know
  that I spent years learning to be safe
    so you’d never have to check first.

But I’ll know.
And I won’t let go too fast.
Not because I’m afraid you’ll leave—
but because I want to stay
  just a little longer
  in the moment
  where the cycle ends.

I’ll kiss your hair
like I’m blessing the future
  we both get to live in.

And maybe you’ll fall asleep.
Or maybe you’ll pull away
to go chase the world,
  trusting that I’ll be here
  when you come back.

You won’t say it out loud.
But your hand will.

I’m safe.
  With you.
  You are where I reach.

And I will never forget
how that felt.

@gilded pumice

[proven viper]

@echo escarp has sent a notification! - @frigid frost @young hemlock @tired meteor @late cedar @hallow whale @heady locust @rancid cobalt @still vale @unkempt raptor @worldly river @strong estuary @tired void @supple pilot @gusty cape

[tired void]

Ugh this is really pretty. i can’t give proper feedback lately but. I’m loving these types of poems lately.

[strong estuary]

Psycho's poem always gives us a surprise

it captures the seismic impact of a simple, deliberate gesture of intimacy after a history of deprivation