Love

I have started

telling more people

that I love them.

Not random strangers -

although, who knows?

I put no boundaries on my

capacity for love.

I am telling my friends,

the words spilling from my lips

or my fingertips.

I love you.

Over and over, either as a

sign off

or simply by itself.

I love you.

I'm not shouting it

from the rooftops.

It's quiet. Sincere. Vulnerable.

I love you.

I say it to my daughter

and she says it back

and I say 'No, I REALLY love you'

and she says it back

and I say 'You don't understand

I REALLY REALLY love you'

and she laughs and says it back

and we keep going until

her voice fades and she gets in her car

and Triple J blares and wipes

my words from her mind.

And I realise that adding more words

doesn't make my love any deeper,

it simply makes me feel desperate

for my love to be known.

So I revert to the classic, simplest form.

The words we crave as humans,

in the best and worst of our times.

The words that are a gift to both

giver and receiver.

I love you.

How many people

can you tell, today?

❤️

Amanda xx