Did you know how love makes everything easier.
A priest told me once to see the ones I love
as precious glass, easily shattered.
To place them on a mantelpiece,
in an honored place.
Understand how easy it is for us all to break.
Yes, to see the ones we love as they are,
we might sometimes go outside.
Perceive them through a window.
A teacher taught me once the gift of observation.
How to know someone is to be quiet and witness.
Then watch and see how the heart softens.
That there is a diamond behind the glass,
a jewel in a precious case –
this is the gift we harness in standing back,
the blessing we re-establish.
And to take a snapshot of our beloveds,
to hold them in our gaze,
may do more even than an embrace
in preserving our heart’s treasures.
Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
January 2021
Living Tree Poetry 