Three

I love you for Three miles

Three One to get me from the end of the line To bright bursting concrete Uphill, past wooden castles Through patchy darkness

One after the hop skip and jump Flat and lonely Past grottos of pooling light Like islands

One the morning after Trudge on, weary traveler Passing ships in the dawn Walking to the side One foot in front One trailing behind I love you for Three hours Three tens

One picked up in a rush, The queen was buzzing about And out the door were lines of Ants following sugar trails

One picked up on Sunday A worker needing rest but Needing the hour more A leather hunger in my pocket

One was fought good and proper Numbers printed on the wall Out of my hands, it could have been

Any one of thirty scheduled But it wasn't just one of thirty

This one was for you

I love you for Three days The long weekend Three mornings fresh faced Three good mornings face to face Three meals before the sun Reaches its zenith Those three hours and three days Three miles and three stanzas

I love you thrice