The Parlance of Love

Of the endless and manifold ways
we express our love for each other
there is the ritualized offering I give
you of a choice of dinnertime menus
to which invariably you respond that
your preference must be accompanied
with an apologetic 'but it's too much work'
knowing that I will reply, as always with
the smiling shrug of 'not at all'. For 
my dear there is never a question 
in my mind that if I can give you pleasure 
the means to do so can never represent
too much work. In all our years together 
ritual is of course unavoidable, for it is 
that which is predictable and of comfort.
The ritualized exchange is predictable
and its repetitions allow us the comfort 
of understanding that I proffer the offer
and you understand the effort it takes.
Beyond which lies the reality that in
love and accommodation, respect and
appreciation, there is no effort, merely
a mutual need finding satisfaction.