I love your children

a diet coke, a green straw

your nervous hand

tickling half melted ice cubes

two pints

of real ale

your first

almost

date

I was there.

A rushed

velocity of emotion

tumbled through my shoulders

when you walked down the aisle

I cried

a raw

humbled howl of happiness

and when Bethy

retraced her steps

earnestly picking up

each petal she had scattered

we laughed.

I remember your children too

the idea of them

in conversation

and hope.

unspent love

spent

courage

thinned

through absence

I grieve for you

for you both

I grieve the loss

of not meeting them

in my arms.

I love your children