I Often See A Couple

 I often see a couple,

a couple, parents to two boys,
whom they raised living far apart.
They fought, they cried, made up.

They learned to love,
to be what the other needs,
not what the other wants.
I see them.

For what they are,
because only stories reached me from their past,
those they chose to tell, not their mistakes,
not their conflicts, only the lessons from them.

I remember stories where
mother would cry over something father said.
She would hide beneath beds,
and father would apologize in tears.

I know they saw things together—
death, old age, sickness, business.
They dealt with things together.

Like the times mother would rage
over something others said to father,
while father remained silent and only smiled,
hearing mother reply to the inconsiderate comments.

Even if they lived most of the time apart,
rearing children in different cities,
not being able to be with each other all the time,
they still grew together, witnessing the weight of Life.

I see them
bickering over small things,
teasing and laughing,
concerned over each other.

Caring in their own way,
discussing what needs attention,
doing things together,
molding for each other.

I remember the laughs,
the clichés that have been carried
over the years, the memories
that bring warmth and nostalgia.

Seeing them gives me hope,
for I know.
how easily people break now.
How quickly they leave.

I guess they too fought,
they too had conflicts,
but they stayed patient
and changed for each other.

I guess they learned to love each other.
But even still,
marrying in doubt
concerns me.

Who is the person
I will be bound to?
Beyond what they show,
what do they hide?

Will they be able to live
beside an alien soul like me?
Will I be able to learn
to love a stranger?

A stranger that I know only
for a few months?
When I don’t even consider
someone friends for years?

How do I choose someone I cannot yet feel?
I don't yet know?
I haven't yet been with?
How do I chose someone, I am yet to understand?

How do I build
what they built
without knowing
if it will ever come?

How do I open myself to a presence
I do not yet desire?
How do I bear kids with a stranger

How am I supposed to open up to a stranger
that I don’t desire the presence of?
How do I bear kids with a stranger?
When all I will do will be out of responsibility, not choice?

I often see a perfect couple,
made up of flawed individuals.
A.V