First, Dubai found us speaking of spirit and guide;
something unspoken sat down at our side.
Then a machine read our eyes and returned something true:
it found summer in me, and the same summer in you.
Across the Cotswolds to Jordan, through long roads and rain,
through picnics and tents, we kept meeting again.
With family around us or paddles in hand,
life scattered small signs only we understand.
Reaching for the merciful, we were gentle but near;
perhaps every prayer was already drawn here.
For mercy is more than the words that we sing,
it lives in the grace that the hardest days bring.
And working beside you gave inspiration a heart,
sound found the body where language fell apart.
From stages to drives, our voices entwined,
while life left love through strange little signs.
Hidden beneath countries, the stages, the miles,
were mornings half-tangled with unguarded smiles.
The year made its home in the simplest of things:
in coffees, in cuddles, in the joy your soul brings.
Just as love held wonder, it held hardship too;
each wound in me found its echo in you.
Though healing’s unfinished, we’re learning the art
of loving beyond where our oldest wounds start.
Understanding love meant more than embrace;
it asked us to meet what we’d rather not face.
The wounds were not endings, though painful and real;
they showed us the places still asking to heal.
More than mere comfort, love makes us see
the selves we have been and the selves we could be.
And though we are learning, unfinished and new,
I find deep meaning in growing with you.
As Summer meets Summer, completing the year,
my gratitude has deepened, my choosing made clear.
A jigsaw means little when viewed piece by piece;
its meaning appears as the fragments find peace.
Not a promise of perfect, but something more true:
to honour our picture by growing with you.
And if love is a language we’re learning anew,
then every word in my heart still turns towards you.
There is more of my heart in this world... because of you.