Learned to Hold

For the women who sensed more beneath the stillness:He wasn’t cold.He was paused—waiting to see if warmth was allowed.Some men grew up learning that warmth was dangerous.If he stayed still, it may not have been indifference.It may have been hope, holding its breath.

Not all weight is a burden.Sometimes it’s proof—that she could finally let go.A man feels the absence of that.

You do the cooking? I do the cooking?You do the laundry? I do the laundry?You brush the dog? I shave the cat? Just details. What I’m after is the woman whose company makes the doings feel like the main event. A best friend who turns a Tuesday at the stove into a highlight of my…

For the woman who’s loved a man before he was ready—I won’t pretend the end was all on me. But still—I wish I had been the man I am now, back then.I can’t go back.But I can be grateful for the part she played in helping me become the one I’ll be for someone else.

I spent years trying to “fix” the relationship. I worked at it so hard I didn’t see the trap:I was trying so hard to change the outside world—because I didn’t know how to handle the one I actually could control.⠀When a relationship ended, I didn’t just lose “us.”I realized I had used the intimate comfort,the…

There are a thousand ways I say “I want you.”This is one of them.