Love’s Hiding Places

kelly salasin

In tippy-toed embraces

and

arched-neck kisses

I learned

about Love

from

my

Mommy

& Daddy

But

Love was Lost

when they Divorced

Turning Numb

and Cold

and Hiding its Face

among the stars

I never thought to

see Love again

Never wanted to

Yet to my unabashed

Surprise

It reappeared

Many years later

when I myself

was a Mommy

tippy-toe kissing a Dad

I found it

in the strangest place…

Hiding

in the

Spoon-Cuddling nap

of my Father

& stepMother

Who would have thought

that it’d be there

just waiting

for me

to notice…

As I grew older

Love was less shy

about showing itself to me:

Once

it was

so Bold

& Brazen

it made me cry,

As I watched my “stepFather”

hold my mother’s hand

while she died