Page 101 of Glass Half Full

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I wasn’t ready for glasses of wine.

The rain traced our reflections in the window

Trailed our cheeks and tapping fingers

As they danced with impatience

Waiting to reach for each other across the wooden table top.”

She looks at me then, her gaze finding mine like a magnet, and it’s all I can do not to jump up onstage beside her. My chest feels tight, too small to hold the emotion swelling inside it. My arms ache to fold her into them, but this is her moment. She doesn’t need me to stand, and my love for her roars all the fiercer because of it.

“As the steam from our drinks clouded the air between us

I wanted to be like the rain

Tracing the shape of his face on the window glass.

I wanted to know the swoop of his eyelashes

The angle of his jaw.

I wanted to catch every one of those raindrops

And keep them in my cup.

I wanted to spill them in the street

And let the city have my secrets

Because as long as the rain keeps falling

I can always collect more.

I am not waiting for other hands to fill my glass.

I am not lusting after bottles I can’t afford.

I am facing this life with a crumpled cardboard coffee cup

And I am letting it catch what it will:

The tears from nights I sleep curled on the bathroom floor

Lungs heavy with the exhaustion of keeping me alive

The tears from the days all that is good in my life

Shines so bright my eyes can’t help but water at the sight

The drops spilled over the rims of glasses

From toasts made in my name

And the names of those I love.

Whatever the world pours into my cup, I will take it.

I will let myself overflow

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