She takes me
as I am
as if I wasn't some monster
or the unwanted cat of the Chinese Zodiac
She looks at me
and smiles
as if she couldn't be happier
I don't know why
she'd fight so hard
to remain by my side
and work through everything
to love me for as long as it's been
I've seen her,
watched that dopey smile light up her face,
saw her joy as she moved in,
and then perhaps
I did fall further in love with her
as something in who she is,
stops me,
makes me wish to be beside her
and makes me fall in love all over again
I know that we aren't perfect
that she could have done so much better than me
yet she loves me,
She tells me,
moves closer to me,
holds my hand as if
it was always meant for hers
and smiles that smile all over again,
and I can't help it
no matter how many stare at us,
I fall all over again
for her
and still as she fumbles,
and I help her out,
our children, our grandchildren now,
watch
and I don't know what they see
I doubt that they see what I see
I see the girl that I fell in love with
for the first time when we were teenagers
even though her hair's grayed
and even though we've grown up,
She's still her
even as the days pass
and the hours grow longer
I can't believe
even now
that I've found someone like her
that loves me
even through my past,
loves me forever.