Love Poem 42
Oh, I have written pages upon pages
now
about
love
and I have written pages and pages about being
misunderstood
or hurt
or any number of
other aspects
of the heart
upon which we all love to dwell,
so why not continue?
The
unconditional ideal to which
everyone pretends to strive
is so
out of reach
that it seems a boulder up a hill more than a
destination or reality.
With a cat or a dog or any other animal
to whom we are stewards,
they look at us with
those deep eyes of theirs
with a level of caring we cannot really understand as adults;
the way they look at us
and
tell us
so long as we take care fo them as they would take care of us,
then we will be loved
until the end of their time.
What a thought that is,
that through simply taking care of the most basic of needs like
eating and drinking and walking, providing a comfortable place
to sleep, and doing so with pureness of intent
we are gifted
the greatest thing of all:
to be loved
regardless
of how we look or how we talk or how we engage with the world;
they don’t care how smart we are or how dumb we are
and
they don’t care if we exercise every day or if we don’t
and
they don’t care about how many books we read or how many books
we say we read;
they don’t care about our jobs or our cars,
they don’t care about whether or not
we can afford
designer clothes or
if we have the newest gadgets.
Take care of my simple needs, they say;
love me as deeply as you would have me love you
and our love will be perfect.
There are many times where we have to deal with animals
and we know that their brains have limited capacity
because they are the size of a walnut or a peanut
and,
true,
they might not be building pyramids
or flying airplanes
or performing surgeries,
but,
they are just as complex in their own ways
and they most certainly understand
what it is to love someone so deeply they would do anything.
They know when
we need peace
and they know when
we need silence
and they know when
we need a warm body to rest against our weary forms.
I know I will never be able to give
such simple and undivided and perfect love
—even in return to them—
but it is something to which I aspire
and it is something
I hope
one day I manage to have
just a taste
of when it comes to loving others.
