~Love, Lover, Beloved~

.

Love

What is Love?

There was a time

When I believed

.

It was your love

I wanted

To be loved

For who I am

.

Then I grew

And I thought

It was my Love

That was needed

.

To give

And give

And give

Of all I had and was

.

Then I grew

And Love

Became painful

And I learnt

.

That what I understood

Was Love

Was not

Love at all

.

But words

Stories

Beliefs

Passed down

.

Across the ages

Wisdom

Of the elders

Who

.

Gave of the best

Of their times

For their people

In response

.

To particular

Moments

In our shared

Story

.

I questioned

These words

Beliefs

Stories

.

It was hard

Stripped me bare

Raw

Back to innocence

.

I know nothing

Now of Love

Only that

What I practised

.

What passed

For Love

Was not Love

But illusion

.

I asked

To know

What Love is

To experience this Love

.

And was sent

Painful moment

After painful moment

Of painful experience

.

Till one day

I understood

That it is only

When we are most

.

Vulnerable

That we can know

What it is

To be beloved

.

And our stories

Have us fight

To deny

Its existence

.

We writhe

We squirm

We wriggle out

Of the sensations

.

Of being

Vulnerable

It is just too

Much

.

For ones

Whose story collection

Teach that to give

Is good

.

But tell me this

If there is to be a giver

Is a receiver also

Not needed

.

And if to give

Is good

Then how can to receive

Be bad

.

Can there be

A rainbow

Without sun

And rain

.

Can there be

A tree

Without air

And earth

.

Can there be

A gift

Without a giver

And a receiver

.

Can there be

Love

Without a Lover

And a Beloved?

.

Can you be

A giver

And a receiver

In your life?

.

Can you be

A Lover

And a Beloved

In your life?

.

For gifts

Cannot be

Without receivers

To receive

.

And Love

Cannot exist

Without a Beloved

To feel it

.

In compassion and tears

In passion and joy

In friendship and mirth

In recognition and acceptance

.

Lovers

Cannot be

If first

The beloved

.

Does not show

Their need

Bare their soul

In all its splendour

.

Weakness

Fear

Vulnerability

And capacity

.

To receive

Then Love

Can show itself

When the beloved is ready

.

When a life lived

Has carved

Such a map

Upon our being

.

Then we finally

Surrender

And let

Love in

.

 This poem was inspired by:

 

“And what greater service shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?” Kahil Gibran