No more hesitation

I see you standing there.

It is nothing and everything —
a single step toward you,
yet the weight of the universe shifts beneath my feet.

How many times have I watched from afar,
turning and returning to this secret place inside me
where only your name lives?

How many nights have I whispered into empty air:
"Take my breath away."
And dreamed that you might hear it?

But now you stand before me.
The crowd fades. The noise vanishes.
It is you. It is me.

I can feel my pulse in my throat,
my foolish heart racing toward a fate it both fears and craves.

No more hesitation.
No more shadows or safe distances.

If I walk to you now — if I speak —
everything might change.

"Through the hourglass, I saw you."
And tonight, I choose not to let you slip away.

The mirror may shatter.
The world may break.
But for this moment — I am unafraid.

I see you turn. Our eyes meet.

The words rise, unbidden, from where I have kept them hidden too long:

"My love — take my breath away."

And if you will have it — if you will take this trembling offering —
then every breath, every heartbeat, every vow
is yours.