Lately I’ve been thinking about who I want to love, and how I want to love, 

and why I want to love the way I want to love, and what I need to learn to love that way, 

and who I need to become to become the kind of love I want to be…

and when I break it all down, when I whittle it into a single breath, 

it essentially comes out like this: Before I die, I want to be somebody’s favorite hiding place, the place they can put everything they know they need to survive, 

every secret, every solitude, every nervous prayer, 

and be absolutely certain I will keep it safe. 

I will keep it safe. 

ANDREA GIBSON 

painting Amy Judd