The dishwasher made a noise for two weeks before I opened it up
The dishwasher made a noise and I ignored it like a pup
That doesn’t understand what whining costs the patience
I ignored it until you said something about the patience
You’d run with it and then I got the flashlight and the tool
And I found the thing in the bottom like a fool
For waiting and I fixed it in about an hour flat
And the love is in the fixing, that’s the whole of that
The fix, the fix, the showing up for the broken thing
The fix, the fix, not the dramatic ring
Of the occasion or the gesture on the grand scale
The fix, the fix, the flashlight and the detail
Of the actual work of making something work again
The love is in the fix, the love is in the when
You finally put the tools down and the thing runs smooth
The love is in the fix, that’s the only groove
I’m not romantic in the ways the movies think about
I’m not the flowers and the poetry and that route
I’m the showing up with the level and the tape
I’m the here’s-what-needs-doing and the full terrain
Of the practical love, the love in action and in deed
The love in identifying and attending to the need
Not waiting for the request, seeing it and acting
The love is in the seeing and the self-contracting
She doesn’t need me for the fixing, she can fix her own things
She’s fixed things in this house without my help, the springs
And circuits of the practical are not exclusively mine
She’s competent and capable and doesn’t need to align
Her life around my skill set, that’s not the point at all
The point is that the fixing is the love’s daily call
The point is that the showing up for the broken thing
Is the love in the active, is the love’s best offering