Whomever you are, I am this...

I am no killer of dreams

I could not ever enjoy the resentment you might

someday feel

If it were my love that held you back...

That wouldn't really be my loving at all, would it?

I understand the ache and pull toward that thing which

we are supposed to do - or be

It keeps me awake at night

Almost every night

I long now for a quiet life; a cozy home

Old from living

Squeaky floors from the wear of my tread

Silent afternoons with my lover

Taking in breaths of fall's fresh country breeze

that makes the sheer curtains dance

around the open window

as we lay on the couch in an embrace

Kids playing in the back yard

enter just in time to interrupt our stolen moment

The sacrifice we make

to address their latest tragedy

A splinter or a banged up knee

Happiness to Band-Aid the wound

and tuck them safely in to their second story bedrooms

in beds as old as I can think back

in rooms with quilts and old toys

Chaos of childhood

When they rest, we settle back

to the quiet retreat of our room

to shower in the bathroom

where the windows are floor to ceiling

and still we don't need curtains

as we climb in to the four claw tub

because there is no one around for miles

but the trees and the sky

and they've seen it all before

What I want is a simple life

where the touch and the joy of the basics

make me more than title

and success is measured in the smiles of my children

who know their parents will be together forever

Unconditional love and where an evening \"out\"

is rounding up the family for a night under the stars

Pitching a pole in the river

not expecting to get a bite

Campfire conversation...strumming the guitar

and creating treasured moments

Enlightening the kids on those things

from which happiness really comes

The gentle force that guides me freely

and makes me feel the heat to a point

that's almost \"too much\" desire

Where in absence, I know who I am

so much less without his presence

And happy to return to touch the face

and watch the lines form

as love grows through its progression

to the next phases of our lives

when our kids have kids

and I'm a granny wearing my granny's apron

in the kitchen, still proud of my tattoo

Baking cookies for their kids

Anticipating the sounds of a full house

cluttered with love and memories

that made my life what it was