Sweetheart,
if you’re gonna do it
go down swinging.
Go down singing,
cause “love
is like a freight train.
So get ready to hold on
for dear life,
or jump off the tracks,”
and remember;
the bar has been set.
With a hundred love letters.
Post marked, and stamped,
sparkly stickered,
decorated with glitter-glue,
then inscribed
in the neatest script
you’ll ever see,
because I can’t make clearer
my love for thee.
With tiny segments
of pre-peeled mandarin
delivered to your bedside
in teenage afternoons
when you were too hung-over,
to leave your room,
I was never ashamed
to be around you,
because I was setting the bar.
Why didn’t I flinch
when you crashed Mum’s car?
That was me…
just setting the bar.
With each brush-stroke
on your primary school
“My Favourite Animal is a…” project,
because you just had to be the child
with the life-size
fold out
photo-realistic
hand painted
image
of a Snow Leopard.
Didn’t you?
When I made your bed,
complimented your looks,
and stood in awe
of your dog-eared books,
then drove to all corners
at which ever “a.m.”
you called
I was setting the bar.
Because sweetheart, I know
that train seems slow a comin’
but slow, and steady
take gold without running
,
so honey; stay happy,
stay honest, be true,
and if you fall in to pieces
Araldite and love,
are here for you.
catherinesietkiewicz.com 