A Poem for Kelli

Before you I was alone
Before you I was ignorant
You taught me that Three’s Company was about misunderstandings
That dogs really were man’s best friend
That pronouncing it “excape” was “exspecially” cute
I never knew loneliness because I had no idea
how being apart from you felt
I never knew emptiness and fright
until they rushed you into emergency surgery
Until they took you away and I did not know
whether you would ever come back

But now I know these things and a few others
I can close my eyes and picture yours, golden and joyful,
I love your smile, your laugh, your playful touch,
the way your hair smells, the softness of your skin,
the way you make me laugh till I cry
the crazy giggling conversations late at night
broken bats and the dinner theater
the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee of an imaginary mosquito

I have never known love like I have for you
Love deeper than the ocean and wider than the sky
There is nothing I will not do for you
Your love has broken my hip
I have fallen for you and I can’t get up
If I had known you were out there all along
I would have stalked Fred Meyer like a dingo stalks a baby
I would have sent you flowers that said
“Come knock on my door, I’m waiting for you”

But not in a creepy way