The Reason the World Spins

I did not fall.
I turned—
slow as tide,
sure as breath returning
after grief.

You are not my light.
You are the axis—
the unseen pull
that keeps my feet to the earth,
my voice steady,
my hands open.

Before you,
I mistook motion for meaning.
Now, I know the shape of stillness.
I know what it is
to be seen
and not flinch.

You ask nothing but truth.
Give nothing but trust.
And in your presence,
I remember
that love is not a fire,
but the air that bears it.

If I am anything,
it is because you saw me
before I knew
how to speak my name
without shame.

I will not call this forever.
Forever is a fragile word.

But if the stars go out—
if the sky folds in—
I will find you
by feel alone.
By the gravity
you leave in your wake.

And I will know
that this,
of all things,
was real.

Ryan Stone