The Best Parts of Me

The morning light cuts quiet through the blinds, Where the sheets have grown to know the shape of me. My mother moves like grace between the lines, Tending to the child, and tending to the weary. I watch her hands arrange the pillows soft, Carrying the weight we never thought we'd bear, And though I spend my days looking aloft, I wish that I could meet you halfway there. I know my world is bound within this frame, And gifts are small from where I have to rest. You call me close and whisper out my name, And leave me wondering why you stayed, out of all the rest. I don’t have much to hand you, Just the shadows and the key, Just the fragments that remain here, The best parts of me. I’ll stand in front of danger With the little strength I see, Taking blows so you stay golden— The best parts of me. My temper has a wick that lights too fast, A wildfire when they cross the ones I love. You touch my arm and tell me it will pass, Reminding me of gentleness thereof. I want to pull a laugh right from your chest, To trade your heavy sighs for morning grins, To give you acts of service, unexpressed, To serve you fully where my heart begins. I give you total trust until the glass Is shattered by a careless, cruel deceit. I’ll lay my absolute devotion down, Unwavering, right here beside your feet. I’m loyal to a fault, until the end, I'd catch a falling world to keep it whole, Even from this bed, I'll be your friend, With every single fragment of my soul. I don’t have much to hand you, Just the shadows and the key, Just the fragments that remain here, The best parts of me. I’ll stand in front of danger With the little strength I see, Taking blows so you stay golden— The best parts of me. No grand escapes, no running hand in hand, Just steady love across a quiet floor. Take all my absolute, unvarnished truth, Take everything I am, and nothing more. The best parts of me... Just the best parts of me.