When the “judges” all have spoken,
And our “friends” have said their piece;
Things will be just as broken
Or seem that way, at least.

But we will know the difference,
No one knows the facts as well
Whether others will see love’s essence
Only time will tell.

©1998 Michael S Davis

Of immeasurable value,
And worthy of sacrifice;
Rarest of pearls, my treasure is you.
What I could give, would never suffice.
So, I can only treasure my treasure
And give yo my everything,
And hope I’m the measure
Of the love that you bring.

©1998 Michael S Davis

When our hearts are full of dreams
and we hope for better things,
that’s when it often seems
what matters most is a little understanding.

The same is true in sadness
or when we trip and fall
and all around is madness
we need some understanding through it all.

Through each other’s eyes
as we view each the other’s heart
and heed each others sighs
we’ll always understand and never part.

© 2000 Michael S Davis

Silent, but for the beating of our hearts,
Peaceful, but for the passion of our souls,
Smiling, but for the teardrops of our joy,
Free, but for the chains of our love.
Ecstatic, but for the comfort of our arms,
Holding you, holding me;
Without a sound,
Without a word,
Saying everything.

©1998 Michael S. Davis

I fear to love you –
And, yet, “Perfect love casts out fear.”
This I know and, so, I pray to love you perfectly.
You, I do not fear. I fear myself with you.
You touch my heart and soul
In ways they’ve not been touched before;
And in that touch release my spirit
Above the clouds to soar;
And in that flight, I fear to loose myself in you;
And in that loss, I fear the harm that may befall
Those who love us, too.
So, I fear, and pray, and seek to love you with a perfect love that only God can give;
To touch your heart with mine
in ways that only His wisdom can define;
and, so, to live
In perfect love with you – without the fear.

©1998 Michael S. Davis

A wondrous beauty entered the room
Wide and surprised, my eyes took her in.
This wonderful woman captured my heart.
Feelings I’d concealed surfaced right then.
And before I could stop, there escaped from my lips
A word I never used to describe such a sight.
It rose from my soul and leapt from my heart,
Then rolled off my tongue with delirious delight.
It reached out caressing and caught her off guard.
Then vivaciously a smile flashed across her sweet face,
As she realized how sincerely that word did describe
How I saw in her form such beauty and grace.
Each time I see her from then until now,
That word rises, and leaps and rolls to my tongue.
And I just can’t describe her except to say, “Wow!”

©1999 Michael S. Davis

It’s been a few years since you stood at my door
And I looked up and my jaw hit the floor
My eyes lit up and one word leapt out
The one word that fit, that word was
WOW!
It was your face, your eyes, that smile
And of course the dress you wore with style.
But that wow went deeper than the rose of your lips
And much wider than the curve of those hips.
It was a WOW, secretly spelled MOM,
A role you perform with aplomb,
Words of wisdom you share from your heart
With a simplicity you’ve raised to an art.
And a WOW for each battle you’ve fought
As you faced whatever life brought
And turned every minus to plus
For your kids and yourself and for us.
More than ever the word that applies
As your presence now graces my eyes
And I remember our wedding vows
The word that still fits is...
WOW!

© 2009 Michael S Davis

You are a mother,
Fertile and brimming with life,
You conceived not once, but twice;
And then another.
You carried them as part of you
For more months than two years
And then gave birth with pain and tears,
Giving the gift of life brand new.
One by one you held them close,
Nursed and burped and cleaned,
Then helped them the truth to glean
Even as you help each blow their nose.
Day by day you helped their day begin,
You washed their clothes and helped them dress,
You fed them well and cleaned their mess,
And every night you tucked them in.
And you did well for each of them,
As we see  now the choices they have made.
You showed the way and on that path they've stayed.
Life's touched and shaped each into a precious gem.
No matter what about in this life you discover,
Or where you go or who you love or what you do,
Above anything in your life that’s you find new;
Remember, always and forever, you are a mother!

©2013 Michael S Davis

Examined in the Light of First Corinthians 13

I know that my words, no matter how eloquent or beautiful they may be,
are meaningless without love.  My actions can make my words nothing,
but the creaking of a rusty gate. I can speak God's Word with power,
revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day and
I can have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps,
but without your love, I am nothing.
I could give everything I own to the poor
and even be burned as a martyr,
but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere.
So, no matter what I say, what I believe,
and what I do, I'm bankrupt without your love.

You are patient and kind; and care more for others than yourself,
You’re not jealous of others' success or conceitedly proud;
You’re not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable;
You don't fly off the handle;
You don't want what you don't deserve;
You do not keep a record of the sins of others;
You are not happy with evil, but are happy with the truth.
You don't pleasure in the shadings of truth,
You don’t force yourself on others, you aren’t ever me first,
You put up with so much in those you love,
You never give upon them;
You always look for the best in others,
You don’t look back, you keep on going and see it through.

I don’t want our love to ever die.
Beautiful words will fade some day
but I want the reality of the life that we live together
to fulfill each of us in its love.
I know I can still be childish in my thoughts, understanding and actions.
I want grow in my loving you
with the maturity, the responsibility and passion of a man.

It is frustrating that we do not always see things clearly.
It’s as if we're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist,
struggling along as best we can.
I know the weather will clear and
the sun will shine bright on our love!
I want us to see it all together,
see us as clearly as God sees us.
I want to see you in all your love and beauty,
knowing your love, and being deserving of it,
of you … of us!

As we continue hand in hand,
There are three things we can do
To keep us moving forward:
Trust God
Hope without distraction,
Love each other extravagantly.
The best of those three is Love.
God has taught me that…
In You.

©2011 Michael S. Davis