I don’t even like the toxic kind of masculinity. I don’t like degrading people, least of all my partner(s). I do not find making love to be an angry thing, nor raising a family to be a matter of dominating those closest to you.
I long for love.
I long for the act and acts of loving. I want to make eye contact and bring my beloved a cup of their favorite tea and a warm blanket. I want to be there to listen to how their day went and make plans for our future time together. I long to understand absolutely everything about them and know them more and more throughout our time together. I want to participate in their hopes and dreams, assuage their fears, go on adventures, and make life worth living for all of us.
I want to hold hands in private and in public – in bed and in a theater and in the streets. I want to run my fingers through their hair and kiss passionately in celebration of every little win we have. I want to be with them and gently kiss their tears in times of sorrow. I want to nurse them back to health when they are sick and shout encouragements when they are pushing to their max at the gym.
I want to be with them.
I want to love.
I want a partner for all these things.