Anthony Hanible

A Box Of Chocolate

You give me a box of chocolate

The way some people offer their hearts

Shyly

As if sweetness is a secret

Meant only for the one who knows how to open it

I lift the lid

And the room warms

As though your tenderness has a scent

As though every piece inside

Remembers the shape of your hands

Each chocolate is a small love letter

Dark for the nights you held me close

Milk for the mornings you softened my name

Caramel for the way your voice melts

When you’re trying not to say

You miss me

I taste them slowly

Letting each sweetness linger

Letting it teach me something

About the way you love

Patient

Generous

Full of hidden centers

That only reveal themselves

To someone willing to savor you

And maybe that’s why I keep the box

Even when it’s empty

Because loving you feels like this

A sweetness I open again and again

A tenderness I never finish

A gift that tastes like forever