To My Partner On A Bad Day

I don't claim
to know love
its ins-and-outs
its infinite
permutations
but after years
of fruitless searching
I found a partner
who teaches me
what it means
to be a man,
to show up
every day,
to ask for help
and give it
when I can,
to act with kindness
and understanding
rather than
hostility
and detachment,
who shows me
the rightous path
although
there are still times
when I do not take it,
love is sex
which is vital
and delightful
but it is also
a steady pushing
a striving
a becoming
a transformation
for the first time
not alone.