I knew I was in love with you
long before I found the courage to say your name.
It began with the way you walked,
as if the earth softened beneath your feet,
and your anklets whispered secrets
only my heart could understand.
I have seen beautiful eyes before,
but yours never simply looked at me.
They lingered,
like moonlight resting on still water,
leaving behind a silence
that spoke louder than words.
There were stars above us every night,
yet somehow they seemed smaller
than the tiny ones stitched upon your shoes.
Even the sky, I thought,
had begun to borrow its beauty from you.
Your hair wandered with the wind,
your braid swayed like it belonged to a song
that had been waiting years
for someone to listen.
I watched you enough
to memorize the pauses in your steps,
the smile you tried to hide,
the way you hurried through crowded streets
only to slow down
when there was nowhere left to be.
And still...
I wished for just one moment closer.
Not because I wanted the world,
but because standing beside you
felt like having all of it.
You never needed jewels
to become unforgettable.
You wore simplicity
the way dawn wears its first light.
Quietly.
Effortlessly.
Sometimes you lowered your eyes,
yet somehow they always found my soul.
You never finished every sentence,
but I carried every unfinished word
as though it were a promise.
If love had ever asked me
what beauty looked like,
I would not describe your face.
I would tell it about your shadow.
Because even the part of you
that never spoke,
never smiled,
never reached for me,
was enough to leave me breathless.
If I could,
I would gather stars in my hands
just to scatter them along your path,
so that for once
the heavens might know
what it feels like
to be beneath something more beautiful.
And if someday
you ask me why I came so close,
I will tell you the truth—
I wasn't chasing you.
I was following your shadow,
because even your shadow
felt like the safest place
my heart had ever found.