What is Love?

"Love calls us to do the things in this world."  - Richard Wilbur

. . . migratory musicians

one last word before 

I go back with wet shoes, thorns 

and dry leaves

to my home:

vagabonds, I love you

free far from 

the shotgun and the cage.

                                             - Pablo Neruda from, "Ode to Bird Watching."

Pablo Neruda, one of the most loving poets, forms an authentic attachment to life. Calling on unlimited sources of inspiration, he writes odes to an elephant, a pair of socks or a bar of soap. He calls them all to life and reminds us of the interconnectedness of all things and beings. Compassion and humor populate his poetry.

At the end of, "Ode to Bird Watching," Neruda leaves in frustration at not getting close enough yet he makes peace with his love of the birds' wildness and inaccessibility,  

 . . . messengers of pollen

matchmakers of the flower, 

uncles of the seed 

I love you/ingrates

I'm going home

happy to have lived with you 

a moment in the wind

What is Love?  Poets and writers have nose-dived and bellyflopped into its lakes and caverns for years. Everyone has experiences and expectations. Which are real? 

How does it transfer beyond the human form?

Peel the Artichoke

Love is an artichoke

all layered in secrets.

Hear the cricket snap of leaves

petals tipped in silky maroon.

White whiskers protect

the heart.

Cook warm,

squirt a tang of sweet lemon.

Push and pull to savor the green, 

see how the leaves fall away.

Once at the heart, 

ah the tingle, oh the sheen.

                      - Penny Wilkes

What do you make of Love? Does the word itself send ripples and thrills? Do memories bring shudders?

Where does Love begin? How do we learn to Love from the inside out free from expectations and doubts?

Think of an approach to Love you have not considered before. 

Examine layers and textures.