Bette stared at the poem that Tina was reading half an hour ago, taking in the beauty of the first few lines it had to offer, ‘Just as beautiful as Tina.’ she thought. Tina lightly brushed away remnants of Bette’s tears, and slowly said, “Go ahead baby read it.”

Bette read the words outloud:

If You Forget Me
I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

_______________________________________

Bette paused for a while and smiled lovingly at Tina before continuing:

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.
______________________________________

Bette gave Tina an unsure look, she wasn’t expecting the poem to take this kind of turn. She kept silent until Tina nudged her into reading the last few lines:

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.
______________________________________

‘Perfect.’ Bette thought, thinking that the last lines of the poem would serve as the perfect adjective for describing the way she felt about Tina. She was mum for a while, unable to translate what she was feeling into words. Bette saw Tina staring at her waiting for some sort of a reaction. “*****!” she cursed under her breath,”T I feel like such a ***** idiot!” Bette mumbled, finally realizing how pre-mature her last reaction was.

“Oh come on Bette it’s not that bad…” Tina half giggled, amused at the way Bette had just reacted.

“Not that bad? Tina I just sat here 5 minutes ago cryinging to you about a silly poem!”

“The wrong poem by the way!” Tina added, she couldn’t resist the urge to make fun of Bette.

“Well you have to admit the last one was pretty sad.” Bette said, still a bit embarrased.

“Yeah Bette, it was.” Tina said with a bit of sarcasm.

“Shut up!” Bette quipped

“Make me!” Tina said playfully.

Bette grabbed Tina around the waist and kissed her. Tina smiled into the kiss, and Bette proceeded to kiss along Tina’s neck, until she heard Tina yawn.

“Oh I’m sorry baby I didn’t mean to… I just really need to rest right now.”

“What about the pizza?”

“The pizza can wait ’till tomorrow babe.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll just sleep on the couch””

“Bette you know you can sleep here with me… and don’t you dare say no, I don’t have enough energy to argue with you on this one.”

Bette beamed at Tina, thankful that she can hold Tina in her arms again. She got ready for bed and crept up beside her already slumbering wife, holding her just like she meant to, finding that soon she too would be falling into a deep sleep.