“The first night living together,

we piled our suitcases in the corner;

warmed up a frozen pizza,

and sat crisscross applesauce

under a broken coffee table,

drank water in paper cups,

and tried to imagine how our lives

would grow within these walls.

We were two lovers

living on the floor,

bare rooms and battered blinds.

All we had to boast for

is a padded air mattress,

a set of silverware,

and a cactus that somehow

survived the winter.

We had everything.”