A NIGHTINGALE’S GUIDE TO SAYING ‘I LOVE YOU’

After Whitney Hanson 

In English we say: I love you 
In poetry we say: they will 
hook me up to a polygraph and ask if 
I love you 
I will say no and the needle will jump
and sputter exactly how you laugh—if I lost my 
memory you would be the one thing I 
remember —my mind 
dancing around 
your name, your smile, your lips 
like our love is 
a waltz to the song of a nightingale
reminding us what it
means to be human
I’d burn the world for you—
a proper villain slaughtering for
the red string that
ties us
together

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Katya Dubravin, 19, Midwestern Suburbs - USA ✯

“My name is Katya Dubravin (she/her), I am 19 years old and live in the midwestern suburbs of the U.S. I am in my sophomore year of college studying Secondary Education to become a psychology teacher. Eventually, I plan on transferring and minoring in creative writing. Meanwhile, in my freetime, I enjoy reading, writing, watching different shows and movies, and finally doing a bit of embroidery.”