warm and comforting
and stable and
i love so intensely
and yet so softly
it's warm and it's
safe and it's good and
there, right there
between the beats
of a song i don't
quite remember
it's a rush and a hush
and it never hurts

until, inexplicably,
it does hurt, and
it's like a twist
a pirouette a thump
a tug a pull a pulse
and i curl up and
this quiet love is
suddenly loud
and overwhelms
and it hurts, it hurts,
even when you don't
hurt me at all