We all have defining memories, those perfect moments where the world felt simplified and safe. Perhaps it’s a quiet evening where the fire burned low, or a moment when a lover said, “You and me against the world.” For a long time, I held a moment trapped in memory to preserve the feeling of simplicity and safety the tent we built out of sheets provided against the harsh reality of life outside our bubble. To release that memory felt like a betrayal of what, I once thought was ever-lasting love, but was not strong enough to withstand the buffeting and pummeling of the winds of life.

I carried that memory for many seasons, long after the snow stopped and melted. My promise to forever carry it in my heart grew heavier and heavier; a physical weight holding me tethered to a past and a relationship that had died, not through death, but through our own human frailties. We confuse endurance with love, and mistake exhaustion for failure to thrive.

Today’s Month 2: Day 23 poem of Dear Me, I Love You, my year-long commitment to write a love poem a day, is about the moment of necessary surrender. It’s about letting go of the burden of the past so that we can finally be caught by something greater than our thoughts. The Weary Carry is the realization that when you set down the burden of the past, there is space to hear Love whispering, “Carry me. I will never leave you.”

The Weary Carry
by Louise Gallagher

We built a tent out of the sheets 
and lay naked under its domed protection, 
fingers and toes touching. 
The fire burned low while outside, 
snow fell into the silent night, 
tucking itself into memory.

“You and me against the world,” you said. 
I held my hand against your chest 
where your heart kept quiet time with mine. 
“No matter what,” I said, “I carry you here.”

The snow stopped, 
the fire dimmed, 
and time passed. 
Springs came 
and passed away 
into summers, 
then autumns, 
and winters again.

I carried the memory for many seasons,
 until my own heart grew weary 
of remembering the weight
of all that was lost
when I believed love had died.

Free of the burden of remembering
lightened of the past,
Love caught me and whispered, 
“Carry me. I will never leave you.”