Through the deepest recesses of missing you,
I cradle your time-bitten teddy bear.

In him, I try to touch your childhood
and the boy beating inside it;

the child whose heart is
the biggest diamond, the one
whose ignorance is tender.

I wish I'd known you then,
wish I'd held you as I hold you now
so I could touch you beautiful
where the night cries in you today,
or feel smooth the places then that
are rugged and unchartered tonight.

I want to be on your sidelines watching you grow,
watching you ache 'till you know what love is,
watching you unravel 'till you touch pain.

I want to whisper, "You're wonderful"
every time she hates you and smooth the
crevices she creates every time she breaks you.

I want to map each tear you've cried
so I know exactly where to dry them.

See, it's not that your flaws aren't beautiful.
It's just that they're diaries of your suffering and
I want to erase every entry you've written and return you
to the boy whose innocence still calls grazes pain.