Love Like a Sweater
by Odin Roark

The aged veteran sits idly
Upon rocker and barren porch
Remembering

Unlike a space suit
Its every fiber fit
By rigid standard

Unlike the starched khaki shirt
Its extremities forged firm as armor
Its pleats kept at attention

Unlike the dress blues
Symbolic of authority and command
Unyielding in its façade of glory

The sweater
Like love
Molds to behavior
Forever willing to comfort the flesh
And bring warmth to the heart

As passion's woven threads
Assimilate the wearer's hardships
Fear of frayed ends disappear
Accepting entwined living
Is not without accident and wear

Affection asks little in return
Needing only to be spared
The folding into a drawer
Of forgotten memories

Given care
The patience of love
Remains forever dedicated
Embracing any and all it touches

And like the tattered loyal sweater
Judges not the body
But dutifully complies
Abiding the ever shrinking collapse
Of life fully lived

The veteran rocks slowly to sleep
His sweater held close