I have many loves
From all parts of my life
In all my years of being.
Love for God and good
And triumph over evil
In the world.
Love for people who
Are here and gone
Either on Earth or simply my life.
Love for my family
Who makes me laugh and
Cry and feel everything in between.
Love for my daughters
Who work so hard in school
To make honor roll.
Love for my husband,
Soul mate, lover,
Giver and maker.
Love for my beautiful friends
Who ground me with their love
And stand by me.
These loves lift me up
In soul and spirit
And are everlasting.
Yet other loves have broken me
Giving me pause to wonder
Why?
Why did he give up on me
For the new girl in 8th grade
Never giving me a second thought?
Why did he make me fall in
Love with him in college,
When we were 10 years apart?
Why did he leave me standing
In the rain at the airport
Taking my heart with him?
These loves challenged my
Senses, making me face dark realities
In the light of day.
These loves took something
From me but in return
Made me stronger.
These loves gave me strength,
Though hard-won,
Made me resilient.
I am a better person
For having endured the heartbreak
Because I persevered.
And from there I learned that
Loving requires patience
For nurturing understanding.
Loving gives as much as it takes,
Without keeping scorecards
Of who did the most loving.
It shapes who you are,
How you respond,
What you give back.
Loving frees you up to be more selfless,
More giving of yourself,
More inward looking.
It polishes the rough edges of your soul
To help heal the wounds
Others left behind.
Yet loving is also hard work.
It does not always come easy,
Often times leaving you lonely.
In these times it tests your marriage,
Pulling you apart in all directions
Because the spark slowly fizzled when you weren’t looking.
It feels like a long frozen winter
That has no end with the wind
Leaving you bare inside and out.
Just as in nature, love has its own seasons:
Falling in love is full of bloom
And beauty, filled with rays of joy.
The landscape is blue as the sky
With lush greens sprouting new life,
Every moment exhilarating.
Sweet Jasmine breezes fill the air
With passionate kisses
That leave you wanting more.
Building love lays the foundation
With memories you hold forever
Like the carefree days of summer.
The weekend trips you took
On a moment’s notice
Without caring about the destination.
And the concerts and plays and parties
You attended together
Will be reminders of the creation of us.
Accepting love happens when
The daily realities of life
Fall upon you like autumn leaves.
Love matures when the bills arrive,
Careers take off or crash,
Babies cry in the middle of the night.
You are in a constant state of
Shifting priorities hour to hour,
Praying that you did the right thing.
Sustaining love takes great resolve
To keep the fire burning in
The cold of night.
It is the most rewarding of seasons,
When you wrap yourself in
All the many layers of love and memories.
And, at the end of the day
You still choose your beloved
To grow old with.
A different kind of love
Involves both sides of parenthood–
Being the child and being the parent.
As children, we look up to our parents
To provide us with the necessities of life.
Some of us are lucky enough to receive these gifts.
Not everyone is so blessed.
They have to fight to be loved
And understood from within the family.
Growing up in such a lack of love
Screws up your worldview,
Messes with your head.
Some never recover from
Circumstances they never asked for
Because that’s all they’ve known.
The lucky ones get out when they can
To start over, creating the love
They never had from the beginning.
I am fortunate that my mom’s
Childhood didn’t take away her
Capacity to love her own children.
I was raised in love,
Taught to love others,
Appreciate what you have.
My parents nurtured me,
Encouraged my confidence,
Fed my self-esteem.
None of this prepared me
For the depths of love I felt
The day I brought my twins into this world.
Holding them for the first time
Took my breath away as they were
Such incredible blessings of faith and hope.
You see, we weren’t sure we would be able to have children
The day we found out about the cancer
The year we were going to start our family.
So life threw us a curve ball,
And we didn’t back down from
That year of unknowns.
We prayed for healing, life, and strength
To get us through the damning journey
Of appointments, treatments, tests.
God blessed us that year,
Woke us up and shook our cores
To show us His gifts.
We had to open our hearts to
Appreciate patience, gratitude, grace
On days that life seemed so unfair.
So the journey to parenthood was hard won,
We were overjoyed to find out
We could conceive on our own.
Then, at 17 weeks God revealed His plans
Of not one baby but two
And our lives changed forever.
Response to 31-Day Poem Challenge
Such a profound, beautiful, and masterful reflection about the many dimensions of love, Robin. Writing such an exquisite poem is love made visible.
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Thank you so much, Carol. You’ve given me such a high compliment and I am grateful. This poem took on a life of its own. The finished version is available at https://rbaldwin0204.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/ruminations-on-love-day-31/ in case you’re interested.
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