Shepard

His hand covers mine like a bear tending to her cubs

Warm and alive,

under my shaking fingers

My hands have always been bigger than the others but

my palm is but a child in his.

a sheep led home by its Shepard

I’ve always been heavier than the others

Trying to curl my body into the folds of itself to be smaller than the one laying behind me

(If I could achieve this I’d be safe)

But the only music that played at nights was a pounding heart and clammy skin

Like answered prayers we’re taught to blindly believe in,

my Shepard breaks a stick with just his fingertip tips and my mind tries to understand

Comprehend how a hand can be soft and strong at the same time

Because I’ve never had both in the same bed

And when my Shepard pulls my body against him the lines of his muscles and curves of his bones reach out

They whisper my name and wrap their pulsing heat around me and I am safe in this embrace

This place I’ve never been before

my heart is calm as the expanse of his hand spreads across the length of my stomach

And I am amazed

My Shepard expels fire from his lungs onto wood like a dormant dragon

His eyes ignite with smoke and his laugh sparks flames across my shoulders as I gaze at the miracle next to me

The moon dips its head in approval and the stars sparkle with excitement

My teasing words hold so much truth behind them I almost choke

It’s been so long since I’ve loved love that i can’t kiss it into his ears just yet

But his eyes know as they hold mine, as they hold out a hand and take mine to dance with two left feet

My Shepard is a man.

I realize the others before have been but carbon copies.

Not like my copyrighted Shepard

He leads his lamb to cotton mattresses and flickering lamp lights

My words are nothing but black liquid ink running down my arms

Stinging permanent tattoos that weave our bodies together like an undiscovered galaxy

My Shepard names each star,

each unfounded moon that is the skin of my body

We walk down the path of meteors with our feet on fire and ash in our lungs

He kisses the smoke into my mouth and I can see through the reflection of his eyes,

that he is in not like the others.

Because he is the Shepard who leads me home on soft grass,

and a summer sunrise.