my sweet love

you endured, you fought, you evolved, and you expanded.
not an easy path, but you are not built for easy paths
you are built for the strenuous, the long and the hard road that sculpts souls and chisels spirits.
breath of my breath, you breathe fire into the night sky.
You, a steady stream, carved canyons that tell the story of anguish, courage, unyielding strength, and stubborn love
You painted your pain and thirst
You sat and looked fear in the eye for a reckoning
You met your demons in the flesh
walked away from painful comfort, braved towards unknown waters and mountains and people
You opened your heart wide, unafraid and unashamed
You cheered, championed and rooted for the little girl, the grown woman, the fierce soul.
You fed her with sun and water and lullaby.
You run with wolves
I love you with all my dreams and sinews

american

"wow, you have no accent!"
well meaning, twinkling blue-green eyes beam at me
through a frame of platinum lashes
and a big, bright Colgate smile

a compliment?
an offense?

an avalanche of thoughts
a cascade of things I want to say

does it surprise you?
my impeccable standard American English
because it's better than yours

is it because my name isn't Stacy or Jessica or Jennifer

or, is it the jet black of my thick eyebrows
the yellow-green tinge to my, otherwise, seemingly white complexion
my large, almond shaped dark eyes
that you can't quite place
some kind of "ethnic" or "exotic"

Indian, Greek, Eastern European
Egyptian maybe

What are you?

What am I?
I am a human, motherfucker
and an American one at that
yeah, go figure

all wrapped up and insulated in your soft cashmere* ignorance