More Than This: A Poem on Emotional Attraction and Depth

What we’re taught about attraction is this: the way someone’s eyes catch the light, the weight of their smile, how confident they carry themselves. But what if you’re attracted to what is not easily seen?

For me, attraction is more about what lives beneath. I notice the story of a businessman on a motorcycle on my work commute. The girl who walks around downtown, nose in book, like she is Belle from Beauty in the Beast. I am a curious person, one who lives in story world, so I am not interested too much about gender, fashion, or style unless it is a pattern that means a lot to you.

This poem is about that pull—for story, for depth, for something more. It’s about seeing the ocean in someone’s eyes, when everyone else sees the shore.

“More Than This”

I don’t care for
the perfectly white
teeth. The olive skin.
The nails meticulously
trimmed and painted.

Give me the ones who
Carry grief often. Those
who wander from story to
story, looking not for a
happily ever after, but
just another element of
surprise and juxtaposition.

Give me the man who rides
a motorcycle to work in his
business suit on a random
Tuesday. A person who flirts
in multiple languages and styles
at the Halloween-themed bar, asking
me, so tell me your villain origin
story.

I want the ones who’ve forgotten
how to sparkle—and then relearn this.
The ones who would rather compose, write,
paint, craft rather than let their hands
idle into sin.

Because when I look at you,
I see a story, not a piece of clothing.
Not a body organ. Not a limitation.
I see the weight in your throat.
The joy in your hair and hands.
I see the ocean in your eyes,
and I want to swim deeper,

deeper,

until I reach the part of you
that you think no one can hold.

Have you ever felt drawn to someone not because of their appearance, but because of who they were—beneath the surface? What does emotional depth mean to you in relationships?

Let this poem be a quiet companion to whatever it stirs. Or write your own about what matters the most to you in a relationship. After all, we are more than this.