Poem: It’s Implied

A poem about my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary

My mother asked my father how many times
he had told me and my brother that we were
loved. And he held a pause. And we all laughed —
because we almost knew what was about to
be said. But then he shrugged, and simply
announced: ‘No need….it’s implied’.

We all howled with laughter, because you
can only scratch your head in comics and
cartoons.

Mum suggested it might be nice for us to
hear it. And he scoffed, ‘there’s no point —
It’s Implied!’ And this time he sounded
a tiny bit mad at the challenge. Not angry,
just frustrated. He had implied the love by
getting up early for sport, and always being
There. By answering all calls for money.

But we all agreed with our own shrug that
still it might have been nice to actually hear it.
Though we could live with the implication.