To answer the
Question of what
Is the difference
Between love and
In love think
About it thusly
Love is a feeling
An expression of
Abundance and happiness
In love is
An action it’s
A reserved sign
On a table
For two it’s
A simple promise
That with you
I choose to
Spend all my
Time far more
Than anyone else
That I love
And what if
After all the
Gifts have been
Opened after the
Explosions of laughter
Glee and surprise
There remains the
Last gift the
Last cherished gift
The smallest gift
The gift that
Went unnoticed the
Gift that patiently
Waited for its
Turn to shine
And what if
That gift had
No card to
Whom should it
Go certainly not
To those grabbing
But instead like
The gift itself
To the one
Patiently waiting simply
Because they belong
Together at last
Such is love
My dear boy
This I know
The great relationships
Of your life
Will be adaptable
They will flex
And move like
A River willow
They will give
Shade like a
Prairie oak when
Life’s blazing heat
Weakens you they
Will wither and
Fall like elms
In late autumn
And then with
Time they will
Sprout again like
Garden daffodils bringing
Glee and joy
These relationships last
Forever because they
Know that they’re
Not there for
Just a season
And in the
Moonlight that blankets
Your now sleeping
Form a distant
Melody dances like
Fireflies above the
Bed prompting me
To study the
Black keys of
Your rib cage
My fingers dancing
Lightly there like
Plump little bumblebees
So as not
To awaken you
But simply to
Play Debussy’s DeLune
Making you into
My music box
I don’t write
Because I want
To or because
It’s easy or
Fun or gets
Me noticed or
Makes me happy
I write in
Order to understand
So goes love
We don’t only
Love because we
Want to or
Because it’s easy
Or fun or
Gets us noticed
Or makes us
Happy we love
In order to
Understand those simplest
Of simple things
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 