Love is...

[taliesin_the_poet]

I don't know whether you consider this a poem or an essay (as classified on my website), so I thought I would try it here, and hope it doesn't attract any brickbats for that...

Love is...

What is love? Let me tell you. But first, let me tell you what it isn't.

Love is not pity. Pity is akin to love, but is to love as Freya is to Loki. Pity is an empty shell, a thing devoid of feeling - cold as Arctic winter and pick-pocketing of dignity. Do not, therefore, dress pity up as love, for love is too noble to allow pity its disguise for long.

Love is not jealousy, possessiveness or greed. This evil triumvirate is anathema, each foul component the sworn enemy of love, each slowly, painfully killing love and all the joys love brings. These impostors also disguise themselves as love, but the seeds of love will never flourish in a soil that also hosts these weeds.

Love is not selfishness, nor is it envy - these ogres share the beds of jealousy and possessiveness, but will not allow the sharing of life's joys. These ruthless highwaymen linger on the lanes of love and loot love's very heart, leaving but a trail of bitterness and hatred.

And love is not religion where every action is controlled covertly for the filling of the bellies of the few. For love's bird thrives in freedom, but in a cage it goes to dust. So let no evangelical pretender threaten your supply of love with the promise of prosperity in the vacuum of his love-less leech, for the light of love shines better if naked and wild, untrained to the wiles of bigotry. And love shines not within the bounds of guilt-edged contract - it must be given freely without coercion, force or blackmail under law. The many who fall out of love might still hold dear their companions if only they had the option of an amicable split; yet the teachings of religion as endorsed by civil statute, thus the deep-held leanings of a sheep-society, dictate that marriage is the only real option for an everlasting love. But this is not a good solution in a partnership of equals, for there is no love in the bonds of prescription.

What is love? I will tell you.

Love is the beauty of the soul, a gelling of two spirits into affectionate wholeness: for surely one is not yet a half until one has love, and the acts of loving make more than just two lovers - love is yet a being unto itself, and being a product of two adoring souls, is as beautiful a being as the lovers will allow.

True love - true, loving love devoid of petty bindings of condition and selfish consideration; true love, devoid of pity, ego, and I-love-you-ifs; loving love reflecting the true beauty of each lover's sacredness - pure, unbridled, naked of the hang-ups of the modern idiom of living, free of the ogres of politico-religious creed - this true love is beautiful beyond the boundless bounds of eloquent description.

But is this such idealistic fancy? Is this the fabled realm of Thomas More? Is this - gods, how I hate the death-knell word - impossible? Scoff as you may, but I believe it not, for such love is a product of the shining life within us all: and though unpalatable truth suggests that we may never see it on a global scale, methinks that two, or three, or four, or thousands can manifest this beauty amongst themselves. How do I know but that I love as much already? Such intensity that burns the mark of well-borne, joyous sensitivity upon my willing heart is surely not a thing so easily mistaken. And, if we but recognise the beauty of a loving soul, it is the beauty of a living soul, for life is best served by love: without love, we will wither into uselessness.

[Thomas]

Interesting theory i should imagine: Mmmmm Love is such a powerful 'emotion' which can cause so much joy or pain..So what is love?Is love possably the birth of all pain?,Anguish,Grief,Sorrow,depression,the bringer of all these turbulant emotions and many more that strike you during your emotional roller coaster,Not that i'm mocking falling in love i'm not, I just think that the emotion has a flip side to it and is the trigger of releasing all those dreadfull emotions,I mean if we had no feelings how would we cope?I wonder if poetry could ever be wrote if feelings were not present?.So in answer to your question what is love? For some people i imagine a good reason to write brilliant poetry,And as i have already stated, 'Love' is the fickle emotion nice at first to seduce you, Then bites you in the 'ARSE'LOL .....

I like your piece taliesin_the_poet but i also think that it's a debatable argumentive out look on 'LOVE' which is a good thing you have succeded in.Good imagery is present also to many to list really,A good piece i enjoyed the read. Later Tom....