Don’t try too hard.

If it requires effort,

if it is difficult for you,

this is not for your portfolio.
It must come naturally,

like holding out your hand to test for rain,

and if you should feel something,

put away your umbrella.
Surrender to the pitter-patter

of unexpected kisses,

and if you get the urge to run

when they start to come hard and fast,
please do. This job is not for you.

I need a detective

to find the logic

behind my contradictions,
who will explain them to me patiently,

so I can come to better know myself.

I need a curator who won’t ignore

the chips and cracks,
who will study them,

run his fingers along their length –

an informed buyer

who knows the condition of his prize.
I need a break wall

to protect me from the storms

without and within myself.

Someone who will not ebb and flow,
who won’t come and go.

I need a man sure enough

of his own two feet

to anchor us both.
I am a body of water.

You need to know enough

of drowning

to know how to love me well.