I celebrate and

embrace you

for the essence

of your soul.

The way you hold

your words into

the light;

fearless and honest

but never too easy to decipher-

you are a breathtaking

maze to fathom

despite your openness

to the world

and though vulnerability be

sometimes misplaced,

you turn into

something worth

justifying the demise

for-

creator of all

tragically beautiful

stories in fiction.

You are beauty

before, during,

and after,

but there is no after

for you are also

endless,

infinite,

and beyond what anyone

can grasp.

Believe it for it is nothing

but the truth

I pledge on the grave

of Aphrodite and Athena:

you are beauty beyond

your eyes,

your skin,

your lips,

and your gaze.

You are beauty in words

and in thoughts

the way you treasure

art, people, and prose

and how you make a home

out of the storms;

how you cut yourself…