Love Is

A poem of metaphors, attempting to recreate and define the feeling of love

Love is like fire
It hurts when you hold on to it for too long
It burns out if you do not tend to it with care and a watchful eye
It is fiery, beautiful, dangerous
It destroys lives, but it can also lead to change, rebirth, and new growth

Love is like the ocean
It is untamable, unknown, and sometimes terrifying to fall into
It drowns you when you least expect it, even in the shallows
The salt burns our eyes, the sand covers us, and yet we continue to dive back in
The joy we feel is not comparable to anything else
Even with the knowledge that danger may lurk in deeper waters

Love is the pain you feel when you get your braces off
When you know that it hurts but the end result will be worth it

Love is the lies we tell at Christmas time
When you say to their face that you won’t buy that expensive gift they want
And yet you know you will
Just to see the joy on their face

Love is the tears you cry at another’s wedding
They run down your face and you know that underneath the happiness, there is a jealousy you can’t control

Love is that puzzle you always meant to finish
It sits there, waiting patiently to be completed
Not knowing you’ve lost some of the pieces

Love is complex
Unexplainable, incomparable
And yet we try to put it in words so that others may understand the feeling

Love, they say, is the only thing that we can give to others that costs us nothing

It costs us much
But the reward is greater