A constant temperature-perfect bath
with soft cascading classical music
swelling and ebbing as candles flicker
with her back against my chest.
Brilliantly blue eyes blinking away tears
of joyfulness that tugs at the heartstrings,
strumming to heavenly sighs of perfect
union with my soulmate for many long years.
That first tender touch of a newborn grandchild
simply tickling the cockles of an old man's heart
while gazing at your firstborn daughter's eyes filled
with a depth of awe that words could never express.
A glowing warmth of pride bubbling over
like an oozing pot of sticky molasses
as your first grandchild flips their tassel
upon college graduation day.
Standing in utter stillness above a nesting
Eagle as she painstakingly feeds her eaglets.
Untiring, fully committed, unselfishly determined,
one becomes flushed with awe at her caring.
A sun that is rising heavenward in glowing orange
-like a lofting basketball, second by second,
filling the drab morning with abundant
radiating warmth that makes all things grow.
These things and more
of a lifetime of protected treasures
that I can recall in the blink of an eye.
Every one of these is what I call love.
