For Real Toads: love and affection

As a prompt for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads yesterday, Marian chose the 1976 song Love and Affection by soul songstress Joan Armatrading.
There were some beautiful responses to this wonderful musical prompt by other members of Real Toads yesterday, but my mind was blank.
Today I managed to come up with this:

❣

love and affection aren’t just the things

© Richard Schear photo

that animals do in the spring,

love and affection

are caring

and sharing

and helping

and listening

and thinking

of someone’s real needs—

heeding signals in disguise,

looking deep in someone's eyes

to diagnose the pain and then

giving love and affection again

❣
I am also linking this to Weekend Writers' Retreat, at the Grandma's Goulash blog.