I was almost a full-grown adult
when I learned what love really was
I saw it in the eyes of my journalism professor
while he told us about how he had to watch his wife
get eaten alive by Alzheimer’s
I went to email him that day, after class
to tell him how sorry I was
to tell him that my grandma had to do the same thing
for my grandpa
I couldn’t type out the words after I saw his email address
PeterandCharlotte@gmail.com
she died 20 years ago
and his email was still their full house
with laughing, bickering children
and a turkey roasting in the oven
20 years, and he kept the cold
from coming inside
he kept the fire warm, the bed made, the pictures dusted
and I cried like a baby
let the tears splash angry
into the gaps of my keyboard
if I never saw it again in my life
that was love
that was the most honest thing I’d ever seen
to keep someone alive
to do so consciously and reverently
without pain or agony
to tell a group of students who are strangers to you
that you’ve seen God and you’ve seen your wife
and you still choose her, every time