Growing up
I had been somewhat good at everything
Except breathing.
The inhaler was my lifeboat
A nebulizer my anchor...
So, flowers were really out of the question.
Not to sound preachy but--
Offer me other stuff
Like a comforting silence when we do different stuff
A nod when asked "will you still be here?"
A set of demons to play with mine
A guffaw at my attempts in foreign accents,
Sleep-deprived eyes waking up to hear out my bizarre ideas at 3AM
A shirt sleeve to wipe my snack crumbs on
Telling me a firm no,
A warning before I do something I'll regret,
A reprimand when I did something bad,
A love song out of the blue
Maybe an inappropriate meme to make me laugh once in a while?
A sharp intuition when to tell me that everything's okay,
Puns I never asked for,
An unhealthy dose of curiosity on the saved videos in my phone,
A look to tell me to hear you out,
A Lowkey pinky grabbing to reach my own as we walk on a dark street,
Warm palms to soothe my gadget-aching eyes,
Beautiful eyes that can stare beyond my half-assed 'I'm okays'
A voice reminding me to wear my glasses and drink water,
A wink when we scheme on messing one of our friends on campaign,
Half the pay for food,
An outrageous reaction to my silent farts,
Oh! And maybe an occasional smatterings of good mornings, good nights, and you're beautifuls?
See?
I am not that high-maintenanced.