Bug Socks

I want to live the kind of balance

where the checkbook is not as funny
as the bugs on your socks... the ones you got
from the children's section because they
were more interesting than anything in 
the grown-up clothing department
I want those socks with their silliness
to counter my serious need to handle things

or maybe bunny slippers or a onesie for grown folk

a balance of passion and play
of dedication and abandonment
I want to be wide awake

my ancestors are healers
yours are storytellers
and when we found each other
it made perfect sense that 
I was writing stories
and you were laying hands
on someone for healing's sake

you think I'm brave for learning to swim at 50,
for facing what frightens me and
I think you're wise to climb rocks with your nephew
so he can listen to your wisdom unafraid of your
words as he hangs by the slimmest of threads

We remind one another of our beauty
because it's easy to forget 
when you're not use to looking at
yourself through the eyes of someone
partial to your life

We owe this much to one another

I am awake to this friendship

© Valerie Bridgeman

January 17, 2013