Today is the anniversary of the first time I contacted my wife by email (I sent it on the first of April, she received it on the second. We celebrate this by me componsing and sending her a poem last thing at night on the first, with the promise that she won’t read it until the next morning. Here is this year’s poem:

What Words Can Do

I used to think that artful words were just a waste of breath,
Get straight to the point or you’ll just bore me half to death;
But then the day came when I tried to learn the gentle dance
Of subtle hints and nuances that constitute romance.

I discovered words alone allowed me to connect
To a thoughtful, kind, warm, and engaging intellect.
Your sense of humor broke my walls, our shared pain drew me in,
Suddenly I saw the point of my old suffering:

It opened up a friendship deeper than I dared to hope,
As I tried to walk my way along the grand tightrope
Of pushing to grow closer without scaring you away,
Somehow I didn’t squander what we celebrate this day.