Respectful Love
Because I love you, I know that your favorite color is yellow.
Not the kind of thick yellow that serves as the background of a Heinz logo,
but the yellow that paints the tips of daisies,
the yellow that blends into pink when the sun is getting tired.
Because I love you, I know that you are gentle.
Compassion flows from your fingertips so generously that the sky swoons.
Your kindness, makes other people genuinely comfortable.
I know this because it’s made me comfortable.
Because I love you, I know that you are cowardly.
Cliff jumping, public speaking, skydiving, spiders, and meeting new people
are all the same risk level to you.
Because I love you, I try to encourage you to be brave,
but because I love you, I respect your limits.
Because I love you, I get tired of you.
After hour number thirteen on our road trip together,
We are hungry, and all I want is space to call my own.
Because I love you, I know that you need your space too.
Because I love you, I know that perfect love requires imperfection,
that love and compromise have finger tips intertwined,
that a productive conversation does not involve a concept of blame,
but a level of appreciation and recognition.
I know all these things because I love you
and because I experience them with you.
I also saw the yellow blending into pink on that summer sunset,
and I’ve felt your gentle gaze rest upon my face.
I’ve seen you fearfully step away from a challenge,
and I’ve seen you after thirteen hours in a car.
Because I love you, I understand that you are imperfect.
Because I love you, I respect you.