Where Will You Find the Day's Beauty?

On the buffet line in a Virginia hotel
A tall young man with kind eyes says
My brother was nine, normal, happy.
And then a tumor exploded in his brain.

I said: I'm sorry.
I was putting broccoli on my plate.

He said: No. Don't be.
He has given me gifts beyond diamonds.
He is blind and deaf and we don't know how much he's there.
But he's there.
He is. He's there.
He makes me laugh.

I said: thank you.
I was holding the salad tongs.

He said: No. Don't thank me.

An hour later, on the drive home, the setting sun hung above the interstate like a red hot tear. The evening commuters sped home in their little bubbles. Trees hung over the highway, bowing as we passed, promising soft endings.

I've tried many ways to say this.
But I think he said it better.
There's love, and there's love.
And there's nothing else.

Travel well.