Give Them What They Want

This giving business and my experiences of it.

 

Give Them What They Want

I see that people want different things

To the collector of delph pigs

With every shelf bending under totters hooves

The ideal gift is yet another fat sow

If your friend has scarves of every hue, design and material do not decide to bring her jewellery instead.

Another scrap of coloured cloth is closest to her heart.

So too, in expressing emotion

If your partner lavishes love

In small carefully chosen gifts then be sure to respond in kind

If they show it through tight hugs, loving kisses then return the favour

Should they demonstrate it with sweet cups of tea and foot massage

Then you know what they long for

Sometimes they listen with heart and soul

Encouraging you to really talk

Know that this soul awaits your silence for their turn

If in your weakest moment they are your strength and sure companion

Then watch for their faltering steps and be there for them

Do all this not like a foreign visitor needing to use the country’s currency

But resenting the strange money they must handle.  Nor like a street trader who barters the goods high above their value and swindles with the exchange.

But as you would if you found a stranger in the desert, thirsty unto death and you have a secret well that replenishes with every cup you proffer him, with abundant concern and love satisfying their urgent need.  Reassuring them of their future supply and with smiling delight in the fortune of having what they need above all else.