the dedication

i don't know why but i'd been thinking
i would give this to someone--the person who
loved me completely. my partner.
my other half. the one who would fill the rest of my days
in sickness and in health till death do us part, or something.
it wouldn't have even needed to be that important,
just a person i felt was right. i would almost given it away easily, i'm afraid.

but you drew me
out of the lines of your own
ten-year existence without me
you called me down into being and
loved me so hard that sometimes i couldn't even see it
and let me go--probably the most important and
most difficult job a parent has to do. so i decided that
i wanted you to have it instead. it's my heart
scribbled out for you to decode, even though a part of me knows
there will be no need.

so i wanted to show you that i'm grateful, and even though actions speak
louder than words, let these tell you how much i love you
and how much i appreciate your presence.