I wonder at times
About youthful urgency
Of Intimate electric Statements
Of love in the erotic moment
Or Closeness defined
By intimate caressing touches

How simple it is to ignore
Ease of slipping into
Energetic discussions
That challenge each others thoughts
Like a soft pair of slippers
That always lend satisfying comfort

Or feeling intense pain and rage
When your partner is unjustly accused
By the same parties for the infinite time
Walking and pacing as the rage builds
Because it never goes away
Even when the accuser is scalded
By the intensity of your wrath
As the balloon of anger collapses

To see that self assured car dealer's
Daughter walk into school conferences
For her children's special needs
And bend the school administration will
With a performers confident swagger

How watching with compassion and guilt
Because you can walk and function
And their crippling pain leaves them
Unable to apply that charismatic
Irish wild child I fell in love with.

Or feeling the love of musical connection
And seeing those arthritic fingers
That once played acoustic strings
And sang like it was their safe place
While the oxygen concentrator runs

I see those translucent
Pale blue green eyes
That still light up an empty room
Filled with fight for her quality of life
And know she is my partner
In what ever battle we have left to face

For those of you who want to know
Love is a battlefield of survival
That is fought with persistence and care
It is volatile and volcanic
It is pleasant and comforting
It is intimate touches
It is feeling pleasure when your eyes connect
It is conversations that start and never seem to end
It is cooking in the same kitchen
It is being her hands for what she can no longer do
It is finding a musical common grounds
It is flowers for no reason at all
It is what we have experienced together

10/15/2011