Love, if I love
I love with the same intensity
If I love in a sun dappled meadow,
In hazy summer heat
Taking in the birdsong,
The buzzing of bees
And the scent
Of fresh cut hay field
Then I love in the storm,
In the freezing, biting cold
In the damp, sodden, unrelenting days
In the grey, dreary days
Of chilling mists than gnaw the bones
If I love under a magnolia tree
By a river, as the world slows
Like autumn sunsets
Then I love in the bramble thicket too
Torn by sharp thorns
In the smallest turn or attempt
If I love you on the easy days
The carefree, have enough
Soft and gentle days
The nights of abandon and lust
The evenings of quiet togetherness
And the Sunday morning papers
Then I love you too
When the world bites
When we fight
When we let each other down,
When it’s hard to see a future
Or even a present
When the struggle tears at the soul
Like thorns in a bramble thicket
And it’s weight is a mountain pressing down
Seeking to choke the very love from life
But love doesn’t care if it’s easy
Or if it’s hard
Only that it’s worth it
And by all the Gods, you are.