A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

She loves in dates and small details
you never expected her to remember.
She loves in making your cup of tea just
the way you like it, in picking up clues
along the way you had not even realised 
you dropped.  She marks 
the anniversary that only exists 
for you, and hopes you will feel seen
and known and loved.  Do you remember
being told to love others as you’d have them 
love you? Ah — she’s perfected that.
In case you wondered, that way lies pain.
It was a difficult lesson in irony — she remembers 
foolishly believing this 
was how you made friends, made
the world a better place, but all it makes
is trauma and that’s a story for another day.