I will love you, still

When Time has caught you up—

the sudden, subtle way Time always does—

and your weather-worn skin

becomes canyon-deep with rugged wrinkles

wrapped around your soft smile—

I will love you still.

When your hands grow rough and calloused,

from every heavy thing that needed lifting

and every broken thing that needed fixing—

I will love you still.

When your bones grow a little stiff

and your muscles ache a little more

and life becomes a little more memories about adventures than the adventures themselves—

I will love you still.

When the proof of our life together

is reflected in the years that cling like

time-earned tattoos on our delicate skin—

I will love you still, beyond the end.