FF&L

Damned if I do, Damned if I don't

What is love? 

Is it disappointment 

Fallacies 

And playing make believe? 

Is love living with expired hope 

And filed away dreams?  

Does love set you on fire? 

Make your inner being scream? 

Sleep for now but face tomorrow 

In a state of constant misery.

Is love expectations 

From those you can't replace? 

And if you don't meet their demands 

You're gone without a trace?  

All I have are cheap imitations and the pain that they bring.  

Maybe in another lifetime I'll get a slate that is clean.

Author's Note

Ignore grammar, what do you think?

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I can't figure out what your title acronym stands for. But I love your poem, since I'm very cynical when it comes to love. We place so much significance on it, building the idea of love into a big pile of WHATEVER (as your poem more or less shows with good imagery). In the end, I've found it's better to be open to whatever little scraps of love come along & stop drowning out these little pleasure pops with heavy expectations. Your last two lines are the kind that poets wish they'd thought of! *smile* Fondly, Margie

[Fanicia E.]

Thank you for the kinds words and you definitely have a point! FF&L stands for Family Friends and Lovers

[Lavi]

I usually think to myself that we live in a world that is both beautiful and cruel. Love is out there, but like you, I have only experienced poor imitations of it. To me, it's the hope of holding out for finding something real without the realized manipulations and toxic traits at first dismissed as simple flaws. I try to just live my life and if someone, somehow, in someway crosses that river than I may just take a chance again. Until then, I hope that you will find something similar and I wish you the best. Even if you're not writing (like me) I hope to see you around because your words remind me that my feelings are real in terrible timing and circumstances.

[Fanicia E.]

Truer words have never been spoke Lavi. It means a lot that you want to see me around. I have some things I've been meaning to post, and might finally get to it thanks to you lol. A part of me writes to feel less lonely, as we're all looking for someone that understands how we feel and who we are.

[Shineheemi]

the first paragraph strikes me. you nailed it!

[T.S. Sky]

Love can be very complicated when communication is not understood I believe. I love your perspective in the poem.

[Fanicia E.]

Thank you for the read and I agree completely!

[T.S. Sky]

You're welcome and thank you.

[Williams Ike]

Does love set you on fire?
Make your inner being scream?
Sleep for now but face tomorrow
In a state of constant misery.
These lines says it all. Love can set you on the fire of goodness & make you scream for joy when positively reciprocated. But can make one sleep in constant misery when given to the good for nothing ones who don't actually appreciate good things but rather call good,bad. So my dear,love is everything good to the good,but an invitation to heart break when given to the good for nothing!

[Fanicia E.]

Well said!

[Effie]

"Is love living with expired hope
And filed away dreams?"

Indeed! I enjoyed reading this and can relate to the questions. Questions that beg for answers in my own heart. What I think is well done my friend.

[Fanicia E.]

Thank you Effie! Sometimes love can come with a sense of complacency, and I feel it's important to ask yourself these types of question to ensure something that was beautiful and pure hasn't been warped to fit constraints placed by those in the relationship.

[Lavi]

"Maybe in another lifetime I'll get a slate that is clean" I often think, "maybe in another life," whenever I reminiscence to deeply and think of what I could've done differently if I could go back in time. But we can't go back in time, and we can either be stagnant and unchanging - or move forward and adapt, seeking our happiness despite the world's cruelty and deepest sorrows.

I crave conversations. I am a conversationalist. I write romance and the perspective I often find myself in. I've had several relationships in the past, and I've been hurt by every single one of them, and yet I still crave companionship. As someone who writes fictions and songs as much as I do, I wonder on my off-days if such a thing even exists in this world. Or is it all just expectations? Is it all just a fallacy we retain to be sane?

But then I remember, despite how many lovers and relationships are to fall or go wrong, there are some who have found something good. When I was, I believe 17, I met a teen mom who was so so strong. She was born and raised in the ghetto of Dallas, had s**t parents, and got pregnant at 13. She's been a mom since she was 14 and the father of her child ran out when she was pregnant. She worked three jobs yet was an amazing person, woman, and mother. I never really understood what a parent's love was for their child until I met her and to my surprise, she found a lover she could trust a couple years before, who was a little older yet stayed with them and taught her how to fight. When asked, she would say about him, "it isn't like you think it is. We just match, even though we're both a mess, we fight together." It was funny too, listening to as she talked about how they got in fights a lot but they loved each other. Every relationship has its fights, so on an outsider's view it looks painful and unreal, but I could see in her eyes as she talked that she found something good. Even though she was younger than me, she was one of the strongest people I have ever met, because she never stopped fighting and working for what she loved.

And I think of her, whenever I'm thinking of love and companionship. How I have to keep fighting for something good and that I have to fight even harder to keep things that way. Your words and your poem speak very true. A lot of love are lies. But, I suppose its like discrimination. We're not all like that - there's just so many that have been in the wrong, we often forget there's still something good left to cherish.

[Fanicia E.]

The person you speak of has incredible strength and drive, and seems very compassionate. Quests for love can be oh-so-painful, but when you find your match, oh-so-worth-it. Despite all the heartache, we never stop searching as we know what we find will overcome every heartache.

[emmajoy]

There's such deep thought-rippling emotion here, Fanicia. Your words are so very honest and touch me through because I thought differently.. hopefully. Love's supposed to conquer all, but so often, too often, hope is smashed to pieces. Hugs and all, dear friend.

[Fanicia E.]

Love is such a gamble, but we keep playing because we know if we choose right, it's worth it and more.

[emmajoy]

Sending, leaving, Sunday smiles and a sisterly hug or two!

[Fanicia E.]

😊 thanks Emma

[emmajoy]

You're very welcome, always. Please, please keep in touch when you can and when you want.

[Wild Rose]

Does love set you on fire?
YES!

Make your inner being scream?
For more

Sleep for now and face tomorrow
With new fire and hope

Well that's how it is for me/us
Like your poem

[Fanicia E.]

Thank you Wild Rose, I like your little twist!