Care Giver by Janet Johnston

["H. Wallace Teal" <johnstonteal@xxxxxxxxx>]

        Care Giver




There's a teacher look on his/her face,
That occupied, "I'm tuned in to something you don't hear" look.
They are always at their love's disposal,
But their love would not, could not dispose of them.

But they laugh, whenever they find a clear path,
and they joke, and they make love, when the season permits.
That's when the care aspect diminishes,
and the giving is in fuller force.

And they hear only birdsong
When others hear a shrill crow
Crying, "Give care.  Give care."
And you'd be wrong to think the obvious,

That he/she would of course prefer
an easier, more traditional love.
Who else would tell him/her that
she couldn't live without him

Then go on to prove that statement
With daily total dependency,
Which causes him/her to pour warm love
over resentment, melting it?

And he/she remembers that God said,
"For my burden's easy" and he/she
picks up his/her burden of love
and never, no never, lays it down,
because with love, it's easier to bear
than not.






by:
Janet Johnston
Bilateral Pallidotomy
Loma Linda University Medical Center