For Safekeeping

From within, my heart longed to belong to her--
pulsing harder in her presence;
to purge from my body, sacrifice to her will
so that my life could throb peacefully at her hand.
It beat steadily at her gentle touch,
trusting the protection she offered unto it,
from that moment until its final rest.
[subsequent to its one. last. beat.]

Though my shell seemed hollow
[to those who dared wonder],
inside, I was filled with such joy
which only she could bestow to me.
Her eyes lit my darkest night.
Her smile chased away my darkest day.
My heart belonged to her,
but she knew it not.
[as of then, at least]

Could she be mine?
Would she be mine?
I opened my mouth
and not a stutter spilled that day,
that moment when I told her:
She is my love, my everything.
My sun rises in her name, and sets in her shadow.
The chill of her abysmal blue eyes
could be overturned by the warmth of her arms around me.
[in one. perfect. instant.]

Much to my blessed surprise,
her words revealed a deeper, hidden truth:
a delicate pulse [not my own]
caressed my palms with its tender rhythm.
My eyes were opened,
her heart was mine for the taking
[protecting, loving, cherishing, as well].
I open my shell, once hollow,
and replace its emptiness with her heart.
There it shall stay for as long as she would bid me keep it:
inside of me.
[for safekeeping.]