I love this version of myself
that only comes alive when I’m with you.
It’s as if the world falls away,
and I can finally breathe—
unafraid, unmasked,
as if you’ve unlocked something inside me
I never knew existed.

In your presence,
I shed the layers
that I once thought defined me,
the expectations, the doubts,
the versions of me I wore
to please the world.
With you, I am raw,
I am real,
I am a version of myself
I didn’t know I could be—
wild, free, untamed,
as if your love has given me permission
to be all the things
I’ve spent years hiding.
...