For my friends

Every time I see you,

Every coming and going and in between,

I want to hug you.

My heart swells when I see you,

My grin uncontainable,

And my heart explodes when I see you grinning in kind.

How I want to throw my arms wide and wrap you in a tight embrace,

Pushing our ribs together

As if they could intertwine;

As if the pressure could show you how much you mean to me.

But I don’t hug you every time.

What a waste.

The effect of an unworthy, self-conscious mind.

At the same time my heart swells, I must contain:

“You’re too much. Overwhelming.

They don’t want to be hugged.

They don’t love you like you love them.

You make them uncomfortable.”

But I still…

Every time I see you,

Every coming and going and in between,

I want to hug you.