I will love you in small ways
the way rain
touches windows
quietly,
without asking for permission.
I will love you
like the breath
that hides inside the chest
of a sleeping bird—
fragile,
and almost not there
and if tomorrow
my heart forgets to wake,
promise me
you will carry
its last warmth
in your hands
as though it were
a fallen petal
too tender to leave on the ground
for I.