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The words stirred something deep inside me, and I leaned back into Jason, swaying softly as his free hand tightened around my waist.
“This is forever,” he whispered in my ear.
I closed my eyes and sighed. “I know.”
After Gary, there were a few poems. Janice read one about hope and keeping dreams alive in a dark world, and Candace applauded and whooped loudest at the end.
A few more people read, and then when the last person finished reading to muted applause, Janice retook the stage.
“We’ve got time for a few more before we all get drunk on wine coolers and forget we’re artists.”
There were a few laughs then Jason gently eased me away from his body. “I’ll be right back,” he told me.
“Where are you going?”
He winked at me and, leaving me watching him in puzzlement, went to the front. I watched him say a few words to Janice, who looked over to where I was standing and waved at me with a grin on her face.
She stepped aside and let Jason take the podium.
What the hell?
I stared at him, mouth open.
He pulled out a sheet of paper from his back pocket. “Hi everyone. My name is Jason, and I’m not a poet, but I wrote this for the girl I love, Daphne. That’s her over there.” He pointed at me. “I hope you all bear with me, and I hope she likes it.”
I covered my face with my hands, floating with happiness but acutely embarrassed to be singled out. Both Candace and Janice came over to stand beside me.
“Girl…” Janice whispered.
“I know!”
Jason cleared his throat, and a second later, his deep voice filled the room, just loud enough that I could hear every word yet somehow soft, gentle, and tender.
At first, there was me
And I thought I knew
How to live for me
How to cruise the sea of life alone
Taking, living, existing
Alone.
But there was always you
In the empty place I couldn’t seal.
There was always you
In the silence I couldn’t fill.
I belonged to you
Before I knew that there was you.
