I see the blue of your eyes when I look at the ocean

I hear the sound of your voice in every love song

I hear the beat of your heart in every love poem

And I’ve already used “love” twice in this

So that must mean something.

Like that I love you,

and that I miss you,

at every moment, with every ache of my existence

Because without you, it feels like a piece of me is missing.

And I know we’re taught in those rigorous English classes to avoid cliches,

and to use words like “superfluous” and “ineffable”

Except you are not in-f*able

Although, if ineffable is defined by my SAT prep books as “(adj.) definition: unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words,” then that is exactly what my feelings are.

So despite the multitudinous amount of vocabulary I have retained

Love is still the closest word to describing

the aching in my chest, the tightness in my throat, and churning of my stomach

when I see you.

And those ocean blue eyes.