I Love You

When helpless to help
to change, to relieve
all I have been able to do
is give Your Love, Lord
in Your simple words
I Love You
that you have whispered to me
so often.

To a friend deep in the despair of betrayal
Her husband has left her
Her sons are rebelling.
In the depths of a hug
I whispered Your Words
"I Love You"
She melted deeper.
No more needed to be said.
She joined the group later
refreshed and quiet.

A stranger after church
in the midst of the tea-time crowd
She'd a recent diagnosis of breast cancer
her children tucked close beside her
May I give a hug?
the Hug said the words
I Love You,
she melted deeper
no embarrassment, no awqwardness
No more needed to be said.

A cousin, at her step-father's funeral
again, the open arms
the sink deep hug
whispers of Love
remind us again of our childhood friendship
our tears flowed,
then cleared
faces fresh and clean.

To my mother-in-law
soft words of Love
As she staggered for tiredness
as we wait for nurses busy with lunch
to take her back to bed.
An intent stare, a glow
and sunk deep into sleep

To a man
sitting waiting, waiting, waiting,
for his Asian wife and toddler baby,
in a squalid rest-home
bewildered in his altzeimas.
Love expressed by giving my other hand
and staying
when he grasped mine
to keep me there just a little longer.

Oh Lord
Your Love is stronger than anything else I've known
and giving it seems so foolish
but oh so right...