True Love in 55 Words

This is a Friday Flash 55, a story told in exactly 55 words. Thanks to the G-Man for hosting this.

MY HERO

No more than the bird with piercing voice
is my beloved to be feared
when he sings of his complaints.
My shortcomings, and the world’s,
are worth a serenade from him.
He does it often but does not leave me
and I find strange comfort in the song:
Is this not true love?

Thanks to Sappho, eternal Greek poetess, for the first eight words. They are all that survive of whatever poem accompanied them.

True love…today I’m grateful the subject doesn’t cause misery. It doesn’t go hand-in-glove with suffering anymore.

Not everyone is given that gift. When I told one of my dearest old friends about falling in love with Joe, he told me, “Wait until Reality sets in.” Love, to my friend, was a source of cynical laughter.

Joe and I have waited 18 years for Reality to set it. We have never left each other, no matter how angry we got. We don’t whine about each other’s faults. We do listen to each other and offer encouragement. We keep our expectations at a low roar.

We do it one day at a time, too. This day is all we have, so we might as well live it fully, the way our Alcoholics Anonymous program tells us to. Today, well lived, leads to a series of good tomorrows.

*****