His partner isn't simply what she seems: <br />he sees her through a mesh of memories. <br />She isn't just the woman she is now, <br />but a compendium of all she's been. <br /> <br />She's still that girl in light-blue jeans <br />(stunning, with her tan and long, dark hair) <br />who made his life seem suddenly worthwhile, <br />when they were students, crammed with dreams. <br /> <br />She is the mother of their children, too, <br />and though they're starting to leave home, <br />he remembers all the care she gave: <br />help with homework, food and clothes. <br /> <br />Or she's a forty-something lady on a beach, <br />who seems untroubled by the sun's harsh rays - <br />soaking up its warmth for hours on end, <br />while he must leave, in search of shade. <br /> <br />She could be likened to a Russian doll, <br />concealing all those other selves inside. <br />When one has known and loved someone so long, <br />there's much, much more to them than meets the eye.<br /><br />Robert Melliard<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/compendium/
