LOVE

Henry and I will have been together 10 years August 20 (7 years married).  In spite of PD, I feel like a vey lucky woman (in large part because of him).  It's funny how people who haven't got the vaguest idea who you are will gossip as though they had some infallible insight(do they understand it's malicious?).
Should I care?  Well, yes, it hurts when people treat you strangely.....and, on the other hand, the only person you have any control over is yourself.  Anyway, I wrote a poem called "Strength."  It's a love poem for Henry.  It's about standing strong in the face of your loved one's disease.  For me, this kind of love is so strong, that the thought of pursuing some fly by night fantasy would be ridiculous.

The metaphor relates to mountains/snow/ storms with blizzard/white out referring to my disconnects in physical and mental capabilities (which I fight).


Strength*

He is the mountain

around which my heart grows,

the man who swallows tears,

because he knows

I slowly pass through white out.

Before his eyes, parts of me

begin to fade.

There is no scream loud enough

to wake the gods,

to stop the blizzard in its tracks.

And yet, he smiles.

He does not run; he does not hide.

He walks beside me, each caress a shield

against the never ending storm.

* all rights reserved by author,

Marlene G. McNew