Clothes-On I Love You's

Clothes-on. I love you's. Qualitatively different--
Giving pause--surprised. Incredulous of
The possibility...this could be something.

Clothes-on I love you's. Softly whispered,
Tentative--and then declared. Rebuffed--
The words fall; they drop, shattered from a tongue.

Clothes-on I love you's? Supposed-to's give pause.
Should-be's flood the room--and still,
Unadulterated, the words stand tall.

Quivering, mid-moment, they almost make feel,
Make feel the girl with a bruise across her breast,
Worn almost like a badge of honor.

Settling, they rest upon the chest that swells--
Too much. Too much, she heaves--too much.
And yet--they come: The clothes-on "I love you too"s.