To be true

 

i.

I love your integrity 

and balance

Not one day goes by when I don’t admire

your thoughtfulness and brilliance

ii.

I have a library

But you are the true intellectual between us

I think everyone around us notices the same

I study and write what is speculative and controversial

You study the concrete

You dwell upon the practical,

the efficient 

I am a mere table of contents

You are the poem, the trilogy, 

the biography, the book

with the best binding

I learn more from your book 

and your teaching 

than from all other sources taken together

iii.

You love life and are grateful for it

You don’t complain

Instead, you rejoice when it’s appropriate

iv.

You grieve for others 

more than your own lot

You are the source of peace and contentment for others 

for every moment between

You’re genuinely interesting, too

Being artistic and crafty just adds to what makes you so immensely intriguing

You’re also logical, but not annoyingly logical

v.

You don’t boast in doing good

You just do good constantly, 

thinking of others, 

even with age appropriateness

vi.

You listen and consider

and learn and process 

prior to slight adjustments to your own convictions

vii.

It is the wise choice—taking into account techniques, timing, planning, and outcome—that becomes worthy of your consideration

You choose well, and that often reflexively, 

instead of choosing too much or too little as a habit

viii.

Like a plate full of garden varieties and delicacies, you always nibble with choice—rarely a mouthful, 

never any stuffing of face

You save for later so you can savor later

A to-go box

is for a full plate 

that you can foresee 

being impossible to finish 

ix.

I remain mesmerized that you listen, 

not so you can weasel around words 

to get your own thoughts in

but to hear and respect and work with others

And to make them feel heard 

You even choose to not listen at the most considerate times,

in order to be more productive and fruitful

A gracious spirit is evident the whole while, too, each and every time

x.

You work constantly

Your energy is as beautiful as you resting after a long day

When I peak at you while sleeping I think, 

‘I can’t believe this one is mine.’ 

Adding to all of this, you’re sexy, fun, exquisitely modest, and positively incandescent

xi.

You are honest and clear in communication, and cute in your mannerisms

You are winsome and kind, careful and patient, generous and courageous, loyal and dignified, stable and trustworthy, resourceful and blissful

You are the most admiral person I have ever known—the sweetest, gentlest, most natural embodiment of maternity, femininity, and coadjutricity

You are the most valuable friend of my life

xii.

Thank you for everything you are

Thank you for everything you do

I lack nothing with you

I lack nothing because of you

I love you

Thank you for loving me