You come from a lookdown stare,
eyes locked and love bound.
You come from a tap on the shoulder
From a young man’s nervous courage.
You come from a message,
direct yet subtle.
You come from infatuation,
a real life adoration.
You come from one woman’s sacrifice.
You come from one man’s drive.
You come from hard work.
You come from generations of dreams never realized.
You come from callous hands, but always giving.
You come from good people.
You come from a look at the empty backseat.
You come from dreams,
both day and night.
You come from cultures mighty and proud.
You come from mom.
You come from dad.
You come from family.
You come from a wish.
You come from connection.
You come from love.
The hours pass like minutes.
One long blink and the hand is back at the top.
Another hour down, another to patiently wait through.
A gift is waiting any minute now.
The moon has come and gone.
The sun has made its presence felt.
It seems the universe is moving planets as a sign,
as we wait in a room number so perfectly aligned: 4.
A thousand feet stroll by the crack below the door
hoping for just two to stroll inside to give us any indication.
Any information is a gracious gift
for these impatient patients.
But finally he came, on our day of all days.
We only cared that he came to us any way.
Right into our arms, our eyes, our hearts.
Exactly where we wanted him right from the start.
I envision you the way I envision perfection.
That should I be gifted with the gift of holding you,
that should my life be so fortunate,
then I will look at you the way I look at your mother,
whose adoration for you is endless.
You are her prized possession and both of you are mine.
Your gentle smile will be a reflection of the warmth found in our hearts.
A smile we hope to find even when all you want to do is frown,
and you will certainly frown a lot.
And even when the fog enters our atmosphere,
I’ll always remember what I saw in your eyes in the haze staring back at me.
All I could see was something wonderful.
I know you will be wonderful.
I’ll feel guilty to hold such a responsibility.
To be tasked with your growth is a big ask,
but I know I will uphold it with pride.
I will.
Here we are, sitting paused just seconds from the countdown.
An entire year becomes like a mural, a portrait easy to stare into,
an image that often reflects like a mirror
as we wonder what direction all the time ran away from us.
But look at what we witnessed!
A gift to walk through ancient homes and even more ancient lands,
to see the world below from the tip tops of mountains so grand,
to learn and love with someone who learns and loves with you.
My joyous eyes well up
when I see how wonderful a year lit our walkways to where we are.
The most beautiful of chances to spend our days at home
while we wait for the most beautiful son to join ours.
Each flicker of the Christmas lights are a memory, a wish.
Each bulb illuminates a path of everywhere we have been and will go.
Everything we’ve created was and is a vision
I first saw in your kind eyes staring back at me.
Even when the lights turn out for the night,
my eyes rest easy as we rest easy,
while my mind wanders with bright colors and louder laughs,
envisioning the daylight to come and the smiles we’ll share.
Whoever said life wasn’t easy must have never been in love.
For I’ve seen so much the world gives us to handle
and yet I’ve never once struggled to love you,
since before we met and every day since.
You are my loves, my hearts, my souls,
my gifts, my smiles, my goodness.
You are the proof in my world of disbeliefs
that I need only believe in love.
Someday, I’ll describe the moments, the details that led to you.
I’ll tell you how I met my soul mate and best friend all at once.
I’ll explain the smiles, the trips, the building of memories skyscrapers tall.
You’ll hear about a love that never ceases to grow, and amaze me.
What can we even say?
We first witnessed your life in a photograph, colorless, still.
But as your heart races to us, as you grow into us, we will be here waiting each day for you.
For you are the epitome of what our lives have wanted, what our minds have wondered.
What can we even say?
We’ll tell you when you get here.
Why is it that something other than the best of us can so easily get the best of us?
The ability to do so is so much better when we are able to squeeze any good from it.
The ease of which we can take it, turn it, give it back in its most horrific form — it’s something.
Why is it that the best of us can so easily turn into the worst of what we can be?
It’s sadness. It’s pain. It’s possessive.
It’s because we let ourselves. It’s the easy thing to do.
But how often should we judge anything by the ease of which it comes?
Perhaps, it is the difficulty we should prize.
Grasping at the challenge, the gleaming, tauntingly visible obstacle.
Shouldn’t that be the motive?
To take and twist any of the bad into something beautiful on the other end.
And maybe spread a pinch of even a memory of sunshine onto a poor soul who needs something to remember.
Perhaps maybe that can help light a path for wherever they were headed to begin with.
After all, the ease of which we can turn a smooth surface into a jagged, stone-filled quest
can be kept a guided trail by the mere decision to hold back judgment on anything we would hate to be judged for.
The spirals in the creek float to the edge only to disappear to reappear as new ones downstream.
The sound of the small rapid helps define the peace found here.
Hidden below the snow capped peaks, the water strolls through the meadow, icy cold — a perfect reminder that it may be summer, but winter is never too far away.
As the elk stroll across the land that is proudly theirs, we take advantage of their generosity and soak in every drop of serenity.
Staring across the range
from who knows how many feet high,
sitting in the window seat.
But I’m distracted by the pinnacle.
A career turn ahead,
I’m sitting in the drivers seat.
Heavily it rests on my mind
already pulled thin at times.
I am strong.
Thankful she is stronger.
Thankful my love will travel
to wherever my mind deems best.
Only a matter of time before my heart interferes.