𝑻ℎ𝒆 𝑆𝒎𝑎𝒍𝑙 𝑻ℎ𝒊𝑛𝒈𝑠

Sunrise paints the kitchen gold Coffee’s cold beside the stove I fold the blanket on her chair Like I’ve done every dawn before The dog don’t bark, just sighs and whines Digging up memories Where her slippers used to be She never said much when I left Just packed my lunch and brushed my sleeve But in that frame, I finally see What silence really means YOU LOVED ME IN THE SMALL THINGS! In mended seams and Sunday pies In how you saved the window seat For when the storms rolled through the pines YOU LOVED ME WHEN I DIDN’T NOTICE! Now the house is full of space And every room’s an empty hymn Calling out your name I opened up her cedar chest To find a button for my coat Instead, a picture, soft and worn From many autumns ago Her hair was loose, her smile was wide Standing barefoot in the rye The garden’s gone a little wild Your roses climbing the back fence I water them with clumsy hands Like you taught me—slow and deep Found your gloves tucked in the shed Still holding summer in their seams And pictured you Standing barefoot in the rye You’d hum that tune while hanging clothes I thought it was just laundry day But every note was meant for me In your own quiet way YOU LOVED ME IN THE SMALL THINGS! In coffee black, no sugar twice In how you’d wait up past midnight Just to hear my truck roll in YOU LOVED ME WHEN I DIDN’T NOTICE! Now the silence cuts like rain And I’m learning love too late To say it back again I’ll plant those seeds you saved last spring Right where the light hits longest Maybe time will teach my hands To speak the words I lost YOU LOVED ME IN THE SMALL THINGS! In every breath I didn’t see Now I carve your name in the bark of this old mossy oak tree YOU LOVED ME WHEN I DIDN’T NOTICE! But heaven knows I know it now And I’ll spend forever missing you With my head bowed low I know it now…