To Edward

Though I may not know

in the eternal scheme of things

just what you are to me,

I can say

you are more than my calculus problem,

more than my ongoing test,

more than the mirror

it’s taken me too many years

to recognize as such

We hold each other up

in undetected ways —

perhaps we each receive

direction, motivation,

perhaps we are encouraged

and in our different vectors, strengthened

by each other.

I may be vine

to your trellis,

you may be

bird to my tree.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 2, 2019