To Michael

When I first saw you,

standing still, frozen in fear, 


you made me laugh. 


Even though there were no more than a dozen of us there, 


you were terrified to play in front of us. 


But you did, and you were good.


It was not love at first sight. 


-

Ours was not love at first,


second,


tenth,


or twentieth sight. 


It was a love that started unexpectedly,


and grew. 


-

When I first saw you,


I did not see our future: 


our first kiss [on our first date],


our first fight [when we got too drunk], 


our first apartment [barely big enough for one person].

-

I did not see our wedding day,


full of love and rain and mud and joy. 


I did not see the love we would have. 


I saw you, and that was all. 



-

But when you asked me to go to dinner, 
two years later,


I was not surprised.

Everything felt right.

-

We did not fall in love. 


We settled into it, knowingly and completely.

-

We took a long time to spark, but our flame grew and grew.