The space between.

Chemistry exists in the space between us. You hold the earth while I hold the seas. And with each pull of the moon, we find that one of us is reaching while the other recoils. It is almost like fear. It is almost like making love. But when everything else is gone and only love remains, almost will only be a memory.

Separation exists in the space between us. It is where waves crash on the shore, pulling some of the earth with it. It is where the crumbling earth pushes the water back into the sea. All we want to do is lie next to one another but each touch is another inch we put between us. The problem is that I never know whether I am the one causing the damage or taking the pain for the both of us.

Desire exists in the space between us. It is the things I have always wanted to believe about you with which I fill the gap. In my mind you are someone who hides in the winter and only smiles when the canary sings from the meadows you are too far from to hear anymore. Then I find myself wanting to love you. I find myself wanting to hold you. Wanting to. Wanting to. Wanting to. Then I find myself.

Perfection exists in the space between is. To you, I have always been something unattainable. And in the empty spaces of my past, you paint silhouettes of a life you think you wanted to be a part of. Only the earth never catches a glimpse of the deepest part of the ocean, of the animals lurking there who will never surface for air.

Hatred exists in the space between us. We tell ourselves lies to harden the edge of the earth and the underbelly of the sea. The idea that we cannot be the space in between us makes us hate. But the truth is that we hate so we will not love. We both know which one hurts more.

My parents taught me how not to believe in true love. And growing up trying to fill the space in between them taught me how to make a space between myself and the rest of the world. I knew I would never find love worth my heart breaking. It is the things with which we fill the gap between us that keeps us apart. I remember being told that every object on the earth attracts every other object, but something keeps them from colliding. For us, it has always been an arms distance. It has been a moment one of us was too afraid to let grow.

And the space is growing, the water is receding, the earth is crumbling, and we can only fill the space even more, trying to protect ourselves. But there is danger in a space between two people. Someone can come in, fill the gap if you wait too long, and it will be all over. It will be all over.