New Vows

I can’t ask anyone to be
my ‘everything,’ (Barry White’s
good intentions duly noted).
I will only ask that they be
a beloved something
to me.

No Swiss-Army-Knife-as-person,
improbably possessing every kind of capacity:
to be alluring, and dependable, and
a good cook, and handy, and spiritually in-tune,
and my unpaid therapist and my carpenter
and loving and cheering and sturdy and and
…………………………………………………………………………..and

Be even one thing to me, but let it be precious,
and dear, and singular:

Be a blossoming tree
Be a hot cast-iron pan of comfort food
Be a glittering stained glass window,
Be a marvelous Millefiori paperweight,
……………………………………………….intricate and unusual.

Be a sports car, sleek and sexy
Be a novelty umbrella
Be a washable-wool sweater
Be an open window
……………………………..to the sound of rain and thunder

Be a hand holding a cool cloth on a fevered forehead
Be a subtly spicy, pacifying wine
Be a high-end bike lock or chic pendant lamp,
Be a stand of swaying ferns or tuned piano
Be a smooth, brushed-metal fountain pen,
……………………………weighty and worldly and polished

Be anything to me, I don’t care,
just don’t leave me bare-armed on the coldest day,
or unshaded on the hottest; I promise
I will shield myself on my own
most of the time.
Care for me any kind of way,
for the unfiltered joy of it,
the fizz of love’s generosity,
and whatever I can be,
whatever I can give
will be yours.

Katie is an educator and writer in Appleton, WI. Her work has most recently appeared in First Review East, Bramble, Wallopzine, and Spadina Literary Review. She is a live storyteller and emcee with Storycatchers, Inc. and works as an English teacher for at-risk young adults at a public alternative high school, with hopes they will remake their own stories, and become friendly with at least one poem.