Love Goes Like This

Love goes like this—an itch becomes a heat,

   A step becomes a trip becomes a fall—

A hunger that expands the more you eat

   Like mud becomes a brick becomes a wall.

Love lives like this: with after-dinner treats

   To make up for the suppers of barbed wire;

With gifts attached to credit card receipts

   And cuddling that dodges sniper fire.

Love dies like this: a chill becomes a freeze,

   A dig becomes attacks becomes a war

Both sides will lose—so keep in mind that these

   Two things alone make love worth fighting for:

      Not toughness, but the courage to be tender;

      Not total victory—total surrender.

  

Copyright 2014 Matthew J Wells