to the years that have emboldened you
and the soft cotton of shirts that have held
your chest and the loud beating heart of a child
who tenderly became this man

to the embroidered years
with harsh winters and humid summers  
through all four seasons and all four decades of your life
there has been wind to cool and there has been light to warm
More often than not, I see the trickle of silence play guard
but sometimes it shatters with a big smile

"I like it when you smile" is as much as I can write to you
when truly, I would like to tell you "I like it when you smile because I slide into it, like a cozy sweater and I smile,too"

so to the years, to the stomping ground that brought you up, to the many lips you've graced and/or  left un-kissed, to the bad shady stuff that no one in this life escapes, to the very good breaks and very profound moments of rebirth, to all that could fit and has fit into your making I thank them –be who are, live a life unique to you because these years have made you, you in all the right ways.

One more rotations around the sun, is most certainly a "win". Cheers to the years!