Three Simple Words

By Dan Mulhollen

"...and that's all," she said.
Three simple words,
but with an eloquence
borne from years of shared experience.

We've walked on each other's earth,
and have shown our hidden realities.

I have ventured
deep into her darkened vaults,
and heard the tortured screams
of her shattered past.
I have seen the night creatures
that arose as a consequence,
and faced them;
not entirely at ease, but unafraid.

She knows me very well;
she's wandered through
my moon-lit libraries,
and read the records of who I am.
And if I opened the door
into the half-finished laboratory,
the sum of my desires,
she would follow me inside.

Three simple words
said with a warm and knowing smile.
A lantern shining brightly
into our shared nocturnal world,
bringing us closer to a reality
we both long to know.