It doesn't ask.
It doesn't wait.
It arrives
like a sudden change in weather-
clear sky,
then thunder.

You feel it
before you understand it,
in the breath you forget to take,
in the silence
that feels louder than sound.

It holds you
gently,
then all at once.
Not like a cage,
but like roots-
growing in places
you didn't know were empty.

Time bends around it.
Hours disappear
in a glance,
a word,
the absence of both.

You begin to say "I"
but find "we"
already forming in your mouth.

It is not always kind.
It can shake you
from the inside,
show you what you hide
and call it beautiful.

When love gets you in its grip,
you do not fall-
you shift.
You become
less certain,
more real.

And if it lets go,
you do not leave unchanged.
You carry the imprint,
like heat
after the flame has gone.