She always knew the I love you was meant for her

Like it was an arrow sent directly to her 

My mother my best friend my everything 

My mama my mommy my person 

The last one to sit down at the dinner table

The first smile I see when I wake 

Coffee mug in hand

Already been up for hours 

My favorite favorite thing about life 

My anchor 

My secret box in the form of a person

The I love you was always meant for her

And it always will be meant for her

Because the love it takes to raise someone 

To clothe

And feed 

And accept no matter what

Is the kind of love that is unconditional

That deserves to be reciprocated 

And how can one not want to reciprocate that love 

I fall and scrape my knee

She provides the bandaid 

I trust and get my heart broken 

She is the bandaid

She is the medicine and the bandaid

The comfort and the entity that drives me

The arrow will always be sent to her

With the message 

The I love you

I could whisper it into the air

She’d know

How could she not know

I love you 

Message sent