Thursday
“I love you okay!”
These are the words of a two-year-old
While kissing my cheeks
On a random morning while I was still under the sheets
Good morning, I say, still wiping off sleep
She’s already in jump mode trampolining to no beat
It’s daybreak
My daughter! To calm her, I squeeze her into my arm
But that’s her trigger, she’s wrestling like she just heard the ringer
I give up the tussle, I might as well be up and hustle
I slowly skit side to the bed, clutch on my crutches
It taps, I. move, I hop, I move, that’s my rhythm since Match’s handshakes
The handshakes that silenced my world with earthquakes
Taught me lessons about friendship, love, and trust
Affirmed my bittersweet belief that love is a one-way street
You’re only what you bring to the table, I see
Love ends when they allow someone else to sit in your seat, providing ingredients, forgetting you had a ladle, serving balanced meals with desserts
That’s how trust deserts
Hard lessons for a broken man in distress
I can’t blame anybody, I was born to learn the hard way
That’s how the grown man me built this fortress
These are times I sit with my conscience
Break my thoughts into puzzles and recreate every picture
Did you get the picture?
Honey, I still feel I’m blessed and I still see the curse
It’s human. It’s humane I progress
I keep the toilet seat down, sit to pee
Wipe it clean now, I told you I learned the hard way
Hop back to my bed thinking what can I change today
Who can I bless today
I call myself crippled for all the things I can’t do
Or won’t do
I bask in my bed waiting for life to catch up with me
She did, she jumped right into my arms to sleep
My daughter! To make her comfortable I cuddle her into my arms
Woke her 2 hours later with kisses on her cheeks
She squeezed her eyes, stretched out her laziness, cried I leave her alone then smiled and questioned, “Daddy?”
I tickled her into a lazy laugh
Wake up babe it’s time for lunch
She squeezed back into sleep hugging herself in a hunch
Wakey wakey!
“Daddy!” She lets out another cry
I love you little one
She smiled, “I love you too.”
