I Love You

After writing of my line from a dream including rose petals, I went back to John Fox's Poetic Medicine book only to read about his reference to rose petals after having his leg amputated in the chapter titled "Heart, Who Will You Cry Out To":

. . . After writing this poem, I tried other healing exercises in place of painkillers. I visualized rose petals falling . . . floating down over my stump. Using this vibrant image eased pain considerably and helped gently open my heart to reality of my loss. I did this with real rose petals too: to see my stump strewn not with hot embers of rejection and self-pity but the soft petals of care.

Now, I believe I need to give my line a poem to live in.

I Love You

I cried when I could not kneel to pray
feeling sad and old that ground seems so far away
angry when the long staircases barred my path
tired when I could not easily stand or sit
resigned that running is only something to watch

most of my life I have taken you for granted
you have carried me many, many miles
through all the ups and downs of my life
across bouldered shorelines, urban stairways
into Egyptian tombs, down sandy beach trails

you have helped me balance on pebbled paths
sustained me in fording a rushing stream
helped me catch grounders, and make rebounds
climb trees, ladders, a lifeguard station. into a bed
scarcely a whimper, complaint or refusal

you have worn down from bearing burdens
only now am I beginning to feel grateful,
after railing against your imagined failures
to carry me over the same ups and downs
only after blaming you for life changing

I am grateful for the distances you still carry me
bearing the consequences of my culinary choices
I am grateful to be able to stand up and walk
So to my beautiful, faithful, hardworking knees:
Someday I will write "I Love You" in the sky with rose petals

-LRB