For my son with whom I share an (im)perfect love…

Everyday,

In a hundred small ways,

I fail or disappoint you with my myriad of misses.

I don’t look up from my iPhone in time to see the joy in your face,

As you deliver the punch line from the show that I hate and let you watch anyway.

And everyday you forgive me.

Everyday I learn to forgive myself

And to accept that a perfect love like ours,

When seen up close,

Is filled with a hundred tiny blemishes,

As beautiful as that,

With lyrics dancing on the melody and singing,

I'm imperfect,

You’re imperfect,

And that is just as it should be,

A love that is real,

That lives and breathes,

That experiences wounding and that heals simply by staying connected.