Dear Love

Dear Love,

I know you’re there.

I see you in my father’s goofy smile,

I hear you in his contagious  laugh.

I feel you in his comforting embrace.

I’d witnessed you for the very first time

When I realized how my father worked like a dog,

Restlessly, to build a life from nothing,

for me.

I absorb this affection

When he allows me to cry on his shoulders after a draining day,

When he reprimands me for screwing up because he knows I can do better,

and when he celebrates me for my achievements with years of joy.

I don’t know much about you

But, I was taught that you

Don’t always come in the form

Of red roses and blue violets.
 

Love, you expose yourself to me when you

My father tries to outdance me as our bare feet work to chilled tile.

With his hands raised high, and his hips shifting from left to right,

We move to the unsteady rhythm of crackling steaks on the fry pan.

He had a choice to be my father.

He chose me.

He chose me before he chose himself.

He chose me.

Love, you saved me many times.

You gave me my dad,

And his devotion to me is incomparable.

You’ve outdone yourself.

Although his voice may falter

And he may be unsure

He knows that teaching me to care for myself

The way he cares for me Is most important.
 

Love, I am eternally grateful

For knowing what I know about you,

And being able share it with others,

The way my father shares it with me.

I love you, Love,

Jada