Rachael Kilgour - How I Was Made

How I Was Made

On a piece of drafting paper 18x24
Just before the metric system Moved its way across the North

A young man wrote a letter Wrote the longest letter ever To his girl back in the States And that’s how I was made

She was bright and level-headed Quick to rail against the rules
He was kind and playful Determined and true

And so they built a life together Six months and then forever
In a church back in the States And that’s how I was made

This is love
This ‘when can I see you?’ This ‘you’re on my mind’ The rushing in blind
This is love

Let the clock run a decade or two And what do you have left
But a sense of obligation And the memory of romance
And the children outside playing The mortgage that needs paying

Was it all a mistake?
And that’s how I was made This is love
This sticking it out This yearn to escape But choosing to stay This is love

She’ll ask if he ate
And she’ll make him a plate
And he’ll remember Valentine roses

Time takes two lovers And turns them to family
Familiar, but no less devoted

To bend and never break Yes that’s how I was made

This is love
This seeing it through The asking for help
And the bedside farewell This is love

This is love
This house is too quiet And all the reminders
of two lives intertwined This is love