When You Speak to Me of Love

Short Love Poems

When you speak to me of love
You speak to me of attraction
Two egos magnetized
By mutual manipulation
Lust, as they call it
Physical, mental, emotional
Playing at push-and-pull
Like tug of war over a bed
Do not speak to me of love in this way
When you speak to me of love
You speak to me of dependence
Two souls joined
By shared desolation
Settling, as they call it
Fearful, lonely, consolatory
Harboring each others’ worries
Like coupled chaplains
Do not speak to me of love in this way
When you speak to me of love
You speak to me of fantasy
Two images embellished
By cultural conditioning
Fairy tales, as they call them
Illusory, idealized, empty
Writing an airy narrative
Like so many romance novelists
Do not speak to me of love in this way
When you speak to me of love
Speak to me of peace
Two beings united
By understanding and compassion
Feeling, beyond what anyone calls it
Calming, imaginative, free
Walking a common path
Like a pair of feet on fresh grass
Speak to me of love in this way
And I will listen

Check out more of Sam Rosenthal’s work at samrose101.com

Photograph by Angelo González

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