Birthday Card

Suppose your
Beloved,
on the day
marking your
birth,
gave you a card,
written
in her own
hand,

in which she
extolled,
one-by-one,
her love and
appreciation
for the ways
in which
she insists
you have demonstrated
your love
for her,

including
refilling her
morning
coffee cup
without being
asked,

and you know,
for a hard fact,
to do so
she must overlook
the messy myriad
of ways
in which you
have been
anything but
loving.

Darling,
let me sadly
count
the ways.

Would your
heart fill
till it leaked
from your eyes?

Would you know
you have discovered
territory in
her heart
that makes you
believe
there must be
vast places
yet to be found,

even though
you just turned
seventy-three

and her hair,
and yours,
is whiter
than ash from
a well-hidden
flame?

(Photo by Edward Howell; UnSplash)