jack johnson, Forever.

i.

when i first met you
i was all janis joplin
and no jack johnson.

i’d heckle the crowd, screaming,
“come on, come on, come on,
and take it!  take another little
piece of my heart now, baby.”

(that is, if i had any pieces left.
i thought i lost a few on prince charming’s doorstep,
but it turned out
they were as transparent
as my glass slipper

…and i had the wrong address.)

i didn’t believe that anything
could always be
“better when we’re together.”

at least not forever.

ii.

that was when “forever” was a mere common noun.
overused and misunderstood,
it was as hollow as my bones.

but when your skin exchanged secrets with mine,
the earth shook in reverence
as we shattered stereotypes
and memorialized clichés.

and thus, Forever was born.

iii.

you once told me that, to you,
the perfect relationship is an
equilateral triangle,
with the emotional, intellectual, and physical sides
in perfect harmony with each other.

i thought that was perfect.
just like you.
and us.

(and besides, a triangle lacks
the devastating downward heart-monitor dive
of heart-shaped love.)

iv.

i used to view love
through disillusionment-shaded glasses.

but i’ve thrown those away
and replaced them with
contacts of the most beautiful blue.

now, i find Love in the most peculiar of places:

it greets me with frosted mini-wheat smiles in my kitchen cupboard,
it waves at me through a second toothbrush on my bathroom sink,
and it dances with me in my dreams as i lie in your spot at night.

v.

someday, i am going to buy a swing to put in our back yard.
we can go there when i've put the children to bed
and become a single silhouette in the glow of summer’s goodbye.

vi.

you say that you think we are
long-lost lovers
from another life
and that the Stars
finally granted us our reunion.

but the only Star that shines in my Sky is
you.

like the Star of Bethlehem,
i know that you were shining all along:
holding my hand through the worst times,
whispering sweet promises of better times,
patiently lighting the path
to Forever.