I have been living within so much gratitude for my friends— those who have been in my life for a long, long time and those who have recently arrived.
Your lives and presence enliven me and teach me about HOME.
with Gratitude,
this poem is for you!
love. jeni.
Love
I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.
I love you
because you don’t hear my dissonances
but amplify the music in me
by listening dignified.
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern,
But a temple;
Out of the words of my every day
Not a reproach but a song.
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.
You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what being a friend means,
After all.
~ Erich Fried
two women who lift and light up my life!
photo: August 2017, Mohonk Preserve.