in a quiet, genuine way.
i love you for bringing out the best in me
for being so attentive to my emotional state
for being so gentle with your suggestions
for being so nonjudgmental
i love you for doing that
for empowering me
to attend to you similarly
at least... i'm learning.

you bring out the best in me, you know
i've seen you look at me in gentle surprise
when i'm attentive and sympathetic to your feelings
i know you think i'm overly so
but i'm not
i'm not typically like that
its just you
that you attend to me
brings out the best in me, you see.

i'm frightened of you.
scared i'll hurt you.
sometimes i feel that you are a butterfly
so precious
so beautiful
so fragile
and i don't want to hurt you
i'm frightened of you.
scared that you will need to withdraw
in order to protect yourself from me
scared that you will need to emotionally abandon me
scared of you i am scared of you i am scared of me

if i had vision who would i see?
maybe its you and maybe its me
i love you for letting me bounce off of you
so i can see something of boundaries
i love you for letting me in
i love me for letting you in
i love you like a part of me
that i never did love

and sometimes distinctions slide...

and nothing is good or bad
right or wrong
painful or pleasant
and everything is good and bad
right and wrong
painful and pleasant

things just are

i love you and hate you you see