When I look at you

When I look at you,

I am not looking at the crease

between your furrowed brows

Or the flush of your cheeks

Or the tremor in your unsteady smile.

When I look at you,

I am not looking at your hands

Stuffed underneath your legs,

Shaking uncontrollably

As you try to keep your body erect.

When I look at you,

I am not thinking

what you are thinking

that I am thinking

about you.

Because when I look at you,

I don’t see the image you have of yourself.

I don’t see the scars,

the failures,

the imperfections.

When I look at you,

I am embracing you in my presence,

The being that has manifested here,

And I see all that you have forgotten,

All that you fail to see in yourself.

When I look at you,

I see the beauty in you.

Even in an empty room,

In the dark, with my eyes closed.

I see you, the whole of you.

When I look at you,

I make a wish that one day

you can also see

The beauty I have seen in you.