Perseverance

it’s days like these

the ones where sweat glistens on your forehead

and I wipe it from your face before it drips into your blue irises

as a pervasive sun shines down through a cloudless sky

and you drop your soccer ball like it’s weightless

then effortlessly kick it towards the trees

a crooked smile spreads across your round face

as I find my reflection in your eyes

begging me to confirm that you are indeed the best soccer player I’ve ever seen

and after I lavish you in compliments and praise

we run towards our picnic blanket in the shade of the weeping willow

these are the days that save me

they save me on the days where your brows furrow

and you stomp your tiny foot to show me how frustrated you are

how you don’t have the words and mental ability

to express yourself yet in a way I’d better understand

the days where my alarm goes off and I’m disappointed

not that I must wake before the sun, but that I awoke at all

when it’s all exhausting

and my patience is so thin that you can see its ribs

when I can’t stop counting my mistakes

which seem as endless as the stars at night

and my guilt suffocates me like your father once did

on those days, I remember these days

and I pull myself through

just for you

so that the music of your laughter can grace my ears once more

it’s the kind of tune I’d sell my soul for