Love and Star Stuff

I'm thinking about love tonight.

I'm thinking about somebody I love, who loved me as a child even though she didn't have to. Somebody who's fighting for her life. Somebody who's the last person alive who helped raise me. Somebody it's been too long since I last saw. And I'm crying and knowing I might never see her again, because that's what you do when you love somebody. Sometimes you love them and you can't tell them and you sit there and love them anyway.

I'm thinking about somebody else I love, who I love as a friend because that's the only kind of love they need from me. Somebody who I can see myself in, and by loving them I can't help but learn to love myself. And they know who they are, but I hold my feelings back to keep from ruining the beautiful thing we do have, because that's what you do when you love somebody. Sometimes you love people the way they need to be loved instead of the way you want to.

I'm thinking about somebody else I love, who I love as a child even though I don't have to. Somebody I could think of as just a paycheck, but instead I give her everything I've got, even though it's gonna hurt because someday I will leave and go on to other work. I give her everything I've got because that's what you do when you love somebody. Sometimes you cram as much love into a little heart as you can in the hopes that when you move on they'll still have enough stored up to last awhile.

I learned that last bit from all the people who loved my heart when it was little and then moved on to go be star stuff again. I learn how to love all the time, mostly from people who never came all the way down to Earth to start with. Those are the easiest people to love, for me. The people who landed and never shook off all the stardust. They let me know it's okay to hang onto some of mine.