What Love Means

Everyone paints a different picture of Love

What matters are the details,

The small bits of differing color and patterns

Sunbursts of red, where for another there is a splatter of blue

Most agree that Love is finding your other half

The missing piece that completes you

But in my case, it's not so much a missing half

As a missing set of lungs

You reach your bone pale fingers into my throat while I sleep

And steal them away with a kiss that tastes of cinnamon schnapps

Cheep whiskey and woodsmoke

 What Love means, well, that varies from soul to soul

For some it means acceptance, complete and total

For some it means sacrifice, changing yourself to make room for the one you can't live without

To me, Love means fire

Hungry, primal and savage, burning away all that lived inside us 

Before They came along and set your heart 

Ablaze

Your skin cracks from heat, your blood boils

And yet you don't scream

To me, Love means sleeting rain

Winds that cut you to the bone and freeze your thoughts

A chill that pushes us closer together to survive

Mint and the bite of frozen air are what your hands feel like

I was taught that Love meant that you make each other better

But, how can you improve marble? 

What shines clearer than the sun?

How can a rose be made more beautiful,

Or granite stronger?

To me, Love means going mad

You forget time, place, and who you are

Your forget your name, the smells of home

You can feel the Earth turning

Parts of you are awakened that you didn't know you had

Your bones are shattered

Crumbled to a fine powder under their gaze

Love means fighting

Challenging 

Pushing

Testing

Poking

Prodding 

Forcing a flower to bloom in dried dust

Cracking open the other person

And pulling them out, willing or not

Love means blood

Battles

Tears

And sweat

When I was little I decided Love should never be easy

Never smooth sailing

Cloudless skies

I got what I wished for

My mother and father taught me that Love

Was mutual faith

An agreement on higher power

A pin on which the universe turned

Love meant waiting until marriage

Before exploring the rolling hills and deep valleys

They never said anything about constellations of freckles on a broad back

Or the untamed wilds of a man's ever-changing eyes

As for a Higher Power

Nature is the only thing that answers my prayers

Spitting sea foam and booming thunder

I say my prayers beneath the full moon

And take my confessions when the sky is red

We're all taught what Love means

But if I had to define it with my own vocabulary

My own wishes and needs

I'd say that Love means you

Love means a a whirling dervish 

The static of  chaos, change, and rebirth

Love is a man with hair the color of fire

A smile made of pure sin

The eyes of a tomcat 

And hands that could rip the world to ribbons

Love means your sprawling limbs

Tangled hearts and a veil of lies

Coffee with too much creamer

Cheap whiskey and strong red wine

Love means seeing yourself for exactly what you are

Love means breathing you in until you become part of my flesh

Love means facing the truth, and telling it

Love means that everything changes and we never stay comfortable for long

Love means together 

Or not at all.

For L

Reviews

[Mia]

“What matters is the details”…must either be ‘what matter is the detail’ or ‘what matters are the details’
I am more rational than I am emotional; you (based on this piece) are the opposite. I don’t believe it’s a right or wrong thing. It’s just different way of going through life. Most of the time I was thinking….noooooooooooo…that’s a recipe for disaster, but then there were moments where I was like yes…okay that I can work with. Most of the time it was as if two people were writing this. It had my mind buzzing, which is always a good thing.
If you give love in sunbursts of red and the person you’re with gives love in splatters of blue, won’t you miss the love the other person is giving…feeling unloved even though you aren’t…blaming someone for something they’re not doing!
Love isn’t easy…sure…why does it need to be so hard to be meaningful?
Please don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying you’re wrong and I’m right…I’m just telling you what your piece made me think.
“Love means you”
“Love means seeing yourself for exactly what you are
Love means breathing you in until you become part of my flesh
Love means facing the truth, and telling it
Love means that everything changes and we never stay comfortable for long

Love means together
Or not at all.”
Some killer lines there Jordan!

[Jordan Warren]

Fixed, thank you!
The poem does make it seem that way, but I tend to favor logic over emotion, but, by the same token I have an endless ability to express emotions and understand them.
The first line talks about that exactly, the different forms of love and what works for one person may not work for another.
Writing this, I bounced between my point of view and the point of view of my partner; thank you empathy.
In some ways, yes; but if you take time to understand the inner workings of the other person and how they express love, you can create a melding of the two. You can create something new, something stronger that will endure all hardships - if you are willing to fight for it.

For me, all things beautiful and important were things I had to fight tooth and nail for; I have to fight for simple things in my life and talking about how I never wanted easy loves basically means "I'm not afraid to fight to the end for something I consider worth it".
I get it, and I'm glad it made you think, that was the point of this poem, to inspire thought.

Thank you, really. Thank you for this entire review.

[Mia]

I appreciate your response and your openness to my different views. It was my pleasure.