By Micki L. Bailey

You say it's your birthday
Well, I salute you
For all the times you understood things
That no one else knew were happening
For the times you were silently proven right
And didn't want to rejoice

For all the pain

For the things you smiled at, for a second
And couldn't explain to anyone else
For all the sunsets you didn't catch
Especially those special ones in Key West

For every time you ironed clothes
And then didn't wear them anywhere
For loving that one in your mind so much
For hanging on to him through it all

For all the times you spend alone
Times people, other people, wouldn't spend alone
Like driving to the mountains in late September
Like taking a weekday off from work for that

For the things you knew
And what it felt like to know
For wishing for a kindred spirit, a similar spirit
But acclimating to not finding one

For everything you've learned on your own
For the beauty you see in certain things
For the dreams you never told anyone about
And the not-really-sad things that made you cry

For staying in the game
For continuing to learn, to find beauty
To dream, and to feel pain
For loving, always for loving
I salute you, and your search
For the light and the heat
And for your doorway to a thousand churches
No man is an island, and your tears won't float one



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