Loving You

Do not always assume that people see you as you see yourself.

Loving you

He said, “I love you.”

She said, “How can you

when I am so fat and ugly?”

So he looked at her,

larger than when they’d first met,

with her caesarean scar

but his eyes could only see

the girl on that hillside,

her party black dress,

the comfort of her arms.

He said, “I still love you.”

She said, “How can you

when I moan all the time?”

So he listened to her voice

The voice that reminded him,

daily, of how useless he truly was

but in its cadence, he heard woven

the joy of her song

and her whispered romance.

He said, “I do love you.”

She said, “How can you

when I am so old?”

He just looked at her,

the girl, the lover, the bride, the mother

and instantly knew the answer:

“Because I grew old with you,

because I grew old, loving you.”