Heartwood

I remember how you looked at me, eyes bright, dancing. Unseasoned, 

we navigated the newness of each other…likes, dislikes, discovering 

that our threads were more common than different. How fast 

the course when you are comfortable in your own skin, 

how fleeting the years when time matters not, just who you are with. 

  And just like that, forty years have passed.

Some say, “It’s a testament.” A testament to what? Longevity? Age? 

It is not hard being with you; it is a necessity, as necessary as breathing itself.  

We are akin to a tree, the seeds of which were planted in the first words 

we spoke to each other. Our roots grew from the smiles, the laughter; 

the common base of our ideals and shared beliefs.  We grew as one 

in strength through our love and convictions. Our limbs stretched 

to embrace our friends and family; who in turn have given their light to nourish 

us. And perhaps one day we will provide the pages for our son; and the seeds

for all who come after, the stories yet to be written.

 

You are my heartwood, my strength; the sap inside my veins;

and I, I am exactly where I’m meant to be.  

Time ceases to exist, everything else eclipsed

  till only love remains.

© Ginny Brannan 2021