What does it mean to love?
Loved ones flash through my mind
Memories and highlights are what I see
I wonder if they know
How much they mean to me?
I try to keep track of them all
But I keep losing count
I try to fit them in the small space of my life
But they keep falling out
I try to show my affection
But I feel all thumbs
I try showing my love through words
But I feel like I’m struck dumb
I pick up an instrument
And play a song for them all
I put my heart and soul into the melody
Feeling the rhythm rise and fall
But I can’t let the music stop
Can’t let this feeling end
Cause if I do, it’ll all be over
I’ll never get the chance again
The instrument drops
And the scene moves on
To a place of peace
But one where they’re all gone
I try to do something to keep them from leaving
To do something to guide them back
So I show my love through actions
To make up for all that I lack
I write their names
On the face of a page
But the ink starts to smear
Then slowly begins to fade
So I carve their names
On the trunk of a tree
But the tree catches fire
And their names in ashes are suddenly freed
Then I decide to write their names
On the palm of my hand
But the words start to move
And eventually stand
They jump from my palm
Run away and are gone
But I don’t stop there, I don’t give up
I simply move on
I chose a star for each person
And name them as they appear
But then the sun comes up
And then the stars disappear
So I paint them in a picture
And name each one I paint
But the paint soon weakens
Until it is no more, too far gone, too faint
So I write them in my mind
Where I know I can keep them
But I quickly lose each one
My train of thought gradually ends
Right then, a thought replaces the lost ones
And I figure out a way
I choose to write their names on my heart
And that’s where they stay
In my heart are the ones I love
Because they are my life
I keep them there so I know their safe
I keep them there so they’ll never die
Do we all find ourselves at some point in life where we think about the ones we love? Where we think of our family? Friends? Best friends? Friends that you hope one day will be something more? Or perhaps we think about how we got so lucky? How we got the people that love us, in our lives? How can there be so many people who love us? Or maybe we think about our loved ones and think of how much we don’t deserve them? Deserve to have them in our lives? To be loved by them? I admit I have pondered these many questions once or twice in my life.
What does it mean to love? To love someone and they love you back? That is one question that I never seem to find the right answer to. I can think of a million answers that make sense yet all of them are missing something or only describe a small portion of the true answer.
Here are just a few of the best answers: Loving someone can mean, putting the other persons’ needs come before your own, loving them now matter how many mistakes they make or opportunities they have missed, helping them in need when it truly matters, being the peacemaker of every fight, argument and dispute, to never leave them when they need a shoulder to cry on, and to do things out of love for them simply because you can.
If I’ve learned anything in life it’s that we are defined and shaped by the people we allow into our company; so chose to have those who see the best in you and love you, around you.
Love can be shown in a million different ways, but the best way to do so is to follow your heart.
So understand what it means love, find your own definitions and answers, and maybe along the way to finding your answer, you’ll find new names to put into your heart.