In Your Arms

I wish I knew

how you felt

about me.

How you truly feel,

minus our parents,

our friends,

everything.

‘Cause I know how

I feel about you.

And it gnaws at me,

both day and night,

night and day.

Third times the charm, I hear.

But, is it really?

Does love, true love,

come and knock on your door three times?

You first told me two years ago,

and I was afraid,

‘cause I felt the same way too.

I thought, “Give it time, it’ll pass.”

It never did.

Then last summer,

you told her that it would never work,

‘cause I was the only one for you.

And I was ecstatic, truly I was.

But, she was heartbroken and my best friend,

so what was I to do?

And now, here it is, the third year.

Friends tell me, that when I’m not looking,

you glance at me,

and they say,

we’re meant to be.

But is that true?

And then some of your friends say

that you want to get back together with me,

for good this time.

But is that true?

I swore, oh so many years ago,

that I would never fall in love.

To me, it wasn’t worth it.

To me, someone always got hurt.

But now, here I am,

in love with you.

You’re my best friend,

I feel so safe around you.

I don’t want to lose that.

But, at the same time,

I can’t go on pretending.

Now, I know you

can do better than me.

I know there are girls prettier,

and smarter, and more fun.

But, isn’t that what love is?

Loving someone, despite their imperfections?

I want to feel your arms around me,

see the look they say you have,

hear the words they say you spoke.

Have you as mine,

and me as yours.


So, I’m making up my mind.

Right here, right now.

As I write these words, I know in my heart

that it’s the right thing to do.

I can’t go through the rest of my life

wondering, pondering the

‘what ifs’ and ‘could have beens’.


So tonight, I’ll come over

and tell you.

Because, at one point in time

you had the courage to tell me.

Now, in this point of time,

I’m gonna have the courage to tell you.





~Al Johnson





Author’s note:

I did eventually have the courage to tell the guy that this poem was about, and sadly I say that it did not go as I had hoped. That was 9 months ago, and I’m still healing, but I know I will be okay. The hard things in life make it worth while when you have something great, right?

The only thing that I have to say to anyone reading “In Your Arms” is this: go for it. Live, laugh, and dream. Even though it was hard, I’m surviving, and you can, too.