Arizona

Every time he looked at her
he was reminded of Arizona.
Warm and never ending,
she was somehow so simple and abstract at the same time.
He refused to let things ruin what he saw.
He swore he'd never do it again,
But he was tempted to break that promise
like a vegan smelling bacon.
He didn't care what people thought of him anymore
because when he looked in the mirror,
her by his side is what reflected back at him.
Love was a ghost whom haunted him in his darkest times;
He was a ghost hunter.
She was the last sip of the bottle,
the last plea on the stand,
his only hope for a better tomorrow.
He was well aware
that this might be his only chance of breathing.
He played a million games of strip poker
with the thought of her leaving,
so that it was all undone.
He
was the only note left on the page.
She
was the only magazine
with a headline that stuck out to him.
They were both well aware
of the number of times each of them had given themselves away
to people who treated them like a box of cigarettes.
Y'all,
she reminded him of his favorite character in every movie.
They listened to 'blonde' when it came out
and he realized
she's the person he's going to be with.
He's been running for so damn long and
he finally found a place to settle down at
just before he jumped off the cliff he was headed for.
The things he was force fed in church had
nothin'
on this miracle.
When they kissed,
he realized his mom
wouldn't ever have to wake up to a note from her son.
When they hugged,
he realized there'd never be another power outage in North Carolina...
Or Arizona.