Poem - I Don't Fall in Love (25 July 2017)

I don't fall in love with bodies.
It's not the eyes or the hair,
not the skin or the height or weight
not tops or bottoms.
These things distract, but do not transfix.

I fall in love with brains,
with a mind that can soar and plunge
in swift pursuit
of a problem, a solution
or a random wondering.

I fall in love with strength in the face of oppression --
both the strength of corded muscles
in arms thrust out to block
and the strength of a deep and well-guarded heart.

I fall in love with vulnerability
The cocky slant of the head
couched in a set jaw and serious face
where fear of reprisal glimmers for split seconds
in the depths of eyes usually unreadable.

I fall in love with the non-judgemental tumble of limbs,
the ghost of a smile playing around full lips,
a person on the brink of a reaction
glimpsed beneath the near-opaque veil
of calculated control.