i love you to the moon & by Chen Chen

i love you to the moon &
Chen Chen

not back, let’s not come back, let’s go by the speed of
queer zest & stay up 
there & get ourselves a little 
moon cottage (so pretty), then start a moon garden 

with lots of moon veggies (so healthy), i mean 
i was already moonlighting 
as an online moonologist 
most weekends, so this is the immensely 

logical next step, are you 
packing your bags yet, don’t forget your 
sailor moon jean jacket, let’s wear 
our sailor moon jean jackets while twirling in that lighter, 

queerer moon gravity, let’s love each other 
(so good) on the moon, let’s love 
the moon        
on the moon

MARGINALIA

1.
I am in love. And because I am in love, I get weird. I start inventing whole worlds. I name stars after inside jokes. I make breakfast plans in other galaxies.

2.
Because I am in love, I want to kiss you so thoroughly you forget the weight of every planet you’ve ever had to carry.

3.
Didn’t I use to think being in love meant I had to come back down to earth? That every sweetness had to be earned with a fall?

4.
What if love could just keep floating, spinning, spilling over—no gravity, no return ticket?

5.
Because I am in love, I wish for you a kind of joy that doesn’t apologise. I wish for you joy that builds a cottage in the sky and fills it with vegetables and laughter and jackets that make no sense but feel like magic.

6.
We’re always building something tender out of scraps.

7.
Maybe the moon is the most honest place for love. Look at it tonight: as full as the life I will have with you in it.

8.
Because I am in love, I am weird. And a little ridiculous. And a lot real.