• She smiles at me from across the table. A smile unfolding with the innocence of children at play. A smile which starts fires that cannot be extinguished, their tongues licking hungrily at my soul, consuming me whole. A smile which sends my heart dancing within my ribcage as if keeping up with a primitive rite, with beating drums and frenzied rhythm. Her hand is in mine, her soft skin pressed against my own. I feel myself stray into a dream, stepping into a dimension unknown, discovering a world where time is no more, where the laws of physics are rendered invalid and useless, where the harmony of the universe is mirrored infinitely.

    Her radiant eyes stare back into mine. Her heart open to me, the gate unchained, welcoming me inside, beckoning me to look at the myriads of precious stones within, shining, winking at me, flashing all the colours of the rainbow from every point, redefining all that is beautiful and sacred. I slowly sink into her intense gaze, feeling myself submerge into those twin pools, my head going down under, my breath taken from me, stolen. I am drowning, losing myself, sinking into a comatose state where life and death are everything and nothing. There is no pain. My soul is lifted from its earthly burdens, soaring with open wings, leaving behind the iron bars of its corporeal prison. My mind goes numb, comes undone, erases all that is irrelevant to the feeling of intense love that is burning inside of me, forever rising. Cupid's arrows stab again and again at my heart, piercing it from every direction, his shafts buried deep.

    I reach out and cup her face with my hand. I run my fingers softly across her cheek, her smooth chin, her pink lips softer than the finest silk. She closes her eyes, locking me forever inside, imprisoning me. Her face carved by angels. Fashioned and perfected with all the finest divine materials. I am humbled by the sight of God's craftsmanship. And in my trance, I whisper three words, like the most beautiful of incantations, like the most mystic charm, like the most elaborate of poems;

    "I love you."