I am captivated by the simple gesture that touches another; the hand reaching across the table to brush away the fleck of make-up from the cheek, agile fingers delicately pulling a stray hair from the weave of a sweater, the mother as she straightens her son's collar, smiling absently as her hands gently pull this way and that, the firm hands that pry open the curious puppy's jaws, the fingers of lovers as they search the darkness of their shared bed to intertwine, the touch that confirms that, yes, I will be here when you wake.
My heart expands and groans. Oh- it hurts sometimes to feel such love, to be the receiver of such a simple life-affirming gesture. "I see you," it cries! "We are here together and in this moment I am showing you my love by placing tenderly that stray lock of hair behind your ear, by closing the coat buttons that may let in the cold, by calling out as the door is closing behind you, don't forget your umbrella!"
Love is so simple yet so burdened. What would happen if we loved unequivocally for 2 minutes? Then five minutes. Then five minutes more? Would our days be filled with these gestures for mothers, sons, daughters, partners, fathers, teachers, friends, or would our expressions be those of manipulation, to get their love to quiet our screaming needs?
And when that love, that truthful gesture is withdrawn -- how the pain seeps costively, like sap from a diseased tree. Should the tree be felled, what would the rings reveal? Many gestures of beauty, ring over ring concentrically circling, or would our betrayals, betrayals to us and by us, ensconce the love already grown? The darkness of duplicity only reigns in the fallen tree. The tree that stands knows that love will always circle through. It intuitively turns its leaves toward the sun, reaches its roots deep into the earth, and has no choice but to grow.
