Kayla Szymanski

LOVE TOGETHER

by Kayla Szymanski

Love was four sets of footprints crossing paths on the sand. It was hands frantically forming signs to signal goodbye from afar. It was steaming plates of favorite vegetables and movie marathons left on loop during three-day weekends. Love was instinctual backrubs and twirls across the dance floor. It was piles of magazines shoved underneath quarantined bedrooms adorned with stickers and smiley faces. It was lips smeared by mint chocolate ice cream and garden dirt playfully tossed against jeans and pristine fabric. Love was photographs pulled from scrapbooks and placed ceremoniously on coffee tables for everyone to see. Love that grew, tore, challenged, pulsed, blinded encouraged, and tugged on you gently when it was most needed.