I Know Love

 I’ve felt affection all my life,

From the moment I arrived

In my mother’s arms to now.

My mother’s love,

My father’s too;

How my spirit sleeps in their hearts,

Long after they’ve gone to rest.

Life usefulness

A platform from which I fly,

And those two,

Standing close always

To catch me should I fall,

I know love

Even at 10 years old,

I would lay across my mother’s lap,

Where she scratched my back

to ease heat bumps irritation

I couldn’t reach,

There she shake-sprinkled

Prickly heat powder all over,

And rubbed it on smoothly.

It must have been her touch,

At times I felt asleep;

I know love.

On my birthday mornings,

Waking to the whole family

Standing around my bed,

Singing ‘Happy Birthday’

Or, a surprised family drive

To Sophie’s ice cream shop.

My superheroes,

Jeanette and Nostelda,

You shaped my ordinary world

And made it extraordinary;

Childhood treasures I cherish,

I know love.