The dreams

That keep you awake

And the ones

That wake you up

Are not the same thing

And the question is

Which one

Is the real you

Love is

Love is

Extra sleep in the morning

After the baby wakes you up

Three times in the night

Love is

Taking the difficult shift

Of walking the baby to sleep

Love is

Sharing the last bite of brownies

Love is

Complements on a bad day

Love is

Support, no matter who else 

Is against you

Love is

A refuge 

When there's nowhere to go

Attention economy

As you gently play with my earlobes

With the softest touch, softer than feathers

Drinking your fill, 

With a faraway look in your eyes

My heart is full

It is the most I will ever be loved (or lobed)

The ardentness of your attentions

Humbles me

I am lucky

Because not everyone

Will be so loved, even once

Not to mention, again and again

**

And yet, despite the completeness

Of your attentions

I will let mine stray

I will let myself be seduced

By the easy attractions

Of glittering screens

Of clickbait

I WILL let you

Suck on, mindlessly

(Not you, I am the mindless one)

As I indulge in instant gratification

My mind craving

Hit after hit

Hugh after high

Conditioned as it is

To constant mollification

Just because it's there

Just because it's available

Just because I can

**

And I wonder

And I worry

If you can tell

That while you are giving me 

A hundred percent

I am giving you

Less than ten

**

How would it be different

If there were no phones

Would I read, 

When you are busy with me?

Or would I just look at you,

Watch your every look,

Feel your every move,

Wonder at your beauty,

Sigh at our bond?

**

Yes, I'm sure you can tell

Everyone can tell

Even babies

Whether they are getting 

The one hundred percent

The absolute concentration

Of attention

And when it's diluted

Diverted

Elsewhere

And you are simply

Background noise

For the other person

Whose mind is preoccupied 

**

And I wonder

If you will feel my love

Any lesser for it

If you will love me

Any less for it

Food

For the minuscule pea

That you extend towards me

I would give up

Every other food 

That I will ever eat

Sun

The sun of your affection

Shines so bright

Every other sun

Fades

No, it's not necessary

That you like the person

Who haunts your dreams

Required: sacrifice

So apparently there are 

Only two models of marriage

Across time, place and 

Any other dimension

One in which

The woman does everything

Accepts all the flaws

Of everyone around

Lets them flourish

At the cost of her own life 

Glosses over her pains

And brushes them 

Under the carpet

To make way for

Everyone else

And everyone is happy 

And another in which

The woman questions everything

And demands her equal share

Of life

And everyone is 

Constantly squabbling 

And I know why

I will never choose

The path that leads to

Happiness 

Impossible

Being with you

Is the most difficult thing

I have ever done

And yet it is easier

Than not being with you

Smooth

And I pretend

Not to know you

For other people

Claim to know you more

And would be offended

If i disagreed

A strange world

Even my love

What I would do for you

Has to be veiled